Anonymous
Post 11/17/2015 15:25     Subject: How much should we budget?

The more professional you are, the more you earn. Simple.
Anonymous
Post 11/17/2015 15:09     Subject: Re:How much should we budget?

CPR certification isn't a credential that should command a higher hourly rate. Even when our nannies have had the CPR certification (which is valid for 2 years) we pay for them to take the class again so they're fresh. Its about a half day class I think and you can find classes in Spanish or in English, maybe other languages too.
Anonymous
Post 11/17/2015 11:25     Subject: How much should we budget?

If you off paid sick days and paid time off (which is common for ft employees but a nice perk for ot employees) make sure you budget so you're able to pay your regular nanny along with the back up nanny
Anonymous
Post 11/16/2015 21:10     Subject: How much should we budget?

Anonymous wrote:I'd budget $16-$20/hour

Did you find anyone decent for that, OP?
Anonymous
Post 10/24/2015 22:16     Subject: How much should we budget?

Anonymous wrote:I'd budget $16-$20/hour


Don't forget about the employer portion of ss and medicare, unemployment, etc.
Anonymous
Post 10/24/2015 18:21     Subject: How much should we budget?

Anonymous wrote:I'd budget $16-$20/hour

You aren't likely to find a professional for $16, but if that's all you can afford, you get what you get.
Anonymous
Post 10/24/2015 16:25     Subject: How much should we budget?

I'd budget $16-$20/hour
Anonymous
Post 10/22/2015 12:11     Subject: How much should we budget?

Thank you! The information is great!
Anonymous
Post 10/22/2015 10:19     Subject: Re:How much should we budget?

Wow - thank you so much for the detailed response - I really appreciate it!!!
Anonymous
Post 10/21/2015 17:39     Subject: Re:How much should we budget?

Nanny here. A nanny share is something I always advise parents to consider when they have concerns about budgeting for a nanny. However, a nanny share is NOT a good option for part time. There are SO many factors to consider when trying to find both another family to do the share with, and also a good nanny who is willing to do it. Having to factor in finding another family looking for the exact same (or very similar) part time hours as you, on top of all the other things you must consider (ages of the children, location, parenting styles, etc) is going to be EXTREMELY difficult. Also, as I'm going to explain further below, qualified nannies who do part time work generally make a little more per hour; PPs estimate of $18-22/hr is honestly a little low even for full time in DC, for a part time share to retain a qualified nanny you should expect to pay no less than $12/hr each ($24/hr total).

In the DC area, the estimate PP gave of $15-20/hr for one child is (maybe slightly low, but more or less) accurate in a FULL TIME scenario. You have to offer more money to make the part time hours seem attractive (if a nanny can work M-F 8:30-5:30 and make $20/hr which works out to $950/week with OT, you have to offer higher hourly wages to make your job offer competitive). It does depend on what hours exactly you are looking for (is it 5 hours per day M-F? Or is it going to be three 8.5 hour days? Will the schedule be the same every week? Are you expecting nanny to be available to be on call on other days/ at other times if something comes up?), but the bottom line is it is VERY hard for a nanny to live off those hours, and she will likely need to take a second job to support herself. And if she works two 25 hour per week jobs, she is going to be dealing with two different MBs (or more, if one or both of the jobs is a share), AND lose out on earning OT wages, which she would be getting in the one full time job scenario, and she would also likely miss out on some of the better benefits usually offered to full time nannies, but not part time nannies (like health insurance premium assistance, etc).

If you have a set schedule, and it's something consistent and easy (like, 9-5:30 M,W,F, or 8am-1pm M-F), and you don't expect nanny to be on call at other times, you might be able to find a qualified nanny, because it would be slightly easier for her to find a family looking for someone full days T,Th, or a family to work with for after school hours. In that case, I would advise offering no less than $16/hr, or if you want an educated, very experienced nanny, no less than $22/hr (and I'd offer even more if you want this nanny to commit to the job and stay with you long term; maybe start with $16-22 depending on experience, but tell her you'll do a review with a performance based raise at 6 months). Now that I think about it, you might also be able to find a college student with some babysitting experience if the hours you need don't conflict with her classes. But if you do go that route, A) $16/hr is still the absolute minimum you should offer, B) know that when her classes change next semester she may not be available for the hours you need, and C) she's unlikely to have much nanny experience and so might not be as good as budgeting her time when it comes to nap time tidying up, laundry, etc, and might not know many things you'd expect an experienced nanny to, like how to get your child on a good sleep schedule, how to make baby food, etc, so lower your standards accordingly.

In addition to competitive wages, your total package must include guaranteed hours, and at least a few days of PTO per year (one week of paid vacation and 2-3 paid sick days; probably best to allow this to accrue instead of having it all available from day one). I agree your total nanny budget should be about 15% higher than nanny's actual wages.

So, if you're hiring an inexperienced college student, you're doing 25 hours at $16/hr (minimum!), so that's $400/wk, $20,800/yr, adding in the 15% for taxes, etc, it comes to about 24k for the year.

If you're hiring an experienced, educated nanny, it's 25 hours at $20/hr (minimum!), which is $500/wk, $26,000/yr, with taxes, it comes to about 30k for the year.

Also, if you want to keep nanny happy, don't forget about a decent Christmas bonus, and a small birthday present. Those go a long way for a nanny, and happy nanny = happy baby, which usually = happy mom and dad.
Anonymous
Post 10/21/2015 17:24     Subject: How much should we budget?

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:If you are in the DC area, a more experienced, CPR-certified nanny for one child will be probably $15 (less experienced) - $20 (more experienced) an hour. You can probably find someone good in between. Taxes, worker's comp, and covering their paid time off will cost another 10-15% of total salary.

A nanny share is usually $18-$22/hr, split between the two families. Much more affordable, but comes with its own headaches.

In my experience, it is very, very difficult to find a highly-qualified, professional nanny for part time work who will truly commit to you. They want full time work. We went through a lot of mediocre part time nannies for one reason or another. If they're doing part time, it's usually because of some temporary circumstance in their lives that makes it attractive. An exception might be a nanny with children if you can swing school hours.

A nanny share would not only bring down your hourly cost, but possibly allow you to hire someone full time or close to it between the two families (you or the other family would pay more for any solo hours).

You had a hard time finding a good PT nanny because your $22/hr was too low. It should have been $25-30/hr. That's my PT or FT range.


PP here. I paid $15-$20 for part time and full time. I had great full time nannies. Glad you can command $25-30/hr, but that's top-top range in the DC area and you know it. The OP does not need to budget that high.
Anonymous
Post 10/21/2015 16:20     Subject: How much should we budget?

Anonymous wrote:If you are in the DC area, a more experienced, CPR-certified nanny for one child will be probably $15 (less experienced) - $20 (more experienced) an hour. You can probably find someone good in between. Taxes, worker's comp, and covering their paid time off will cost another 10-15% of total salary.

A nanny share is usually $18-$22/hr, split between the two families. Much more affordable, but comes with its own headaches.

In my experience, it is very, very difficult to find a highly-qualified, professional nanny for part time work who will truly commit to you. They want full time work. We went through a lot of mediocre part time nannies for one reason or another. If they're doing part time, it's usually because of some temporary circumstance in their lives that makes it attractive. An exception might be a nanny with children if you can swing school hours.

A nanny share would not only bring down your hourly cost, but possibly allow you to hire someone full time or close to it between the two families (you or the other family would pay more for any solo hours).

You had a hard time finding a good PT nanny because your $22/hr was too low. It should have been $25-30/hr. That's my PT or FT range.
Anonymous
Post 10/21/2015 14:33     Subject: How much should we budget?

If you are in the DC area, a more experienced, CPR-certified nanny for one child will be probably $15 (less experienced) - $20 (more experienced) an hour. You can probably find someone good in between. Taxes, worker's comp, and covering their paid time off will cost another 10-15% of total salary.

A nanny share is usually $18-$22/hr, split between the two families. Much more affordable, but comes with its own headaches.

In my experience, it is very, very difficult to find a highly-qualified, professional nanny for part time work who will truly commit to you. They want full time work. We went through a lot of mediocre part time nannies for one reason or another. If they're doing part time, it's usually because of some temporary circumstance in their lives that makes it attractive. An exception might be a nanny with children if you can swing school hours.

A nanny share would not only bring down your hourly cost, but possibly allow you to hire someone full time or close to it between the two families (you or the other family would pay more for any solo hours).
Anonymous
Post 10/21/2015 14:23     Subject: How much should we budget?

Hi - New to this topic and curious about what we should plan to budget for a part-time nanny (~25 hrs a week) IF I'm able to work part-time and be at home PT. If we were to hire a more experienced nanny that is CPR certified - what should we plan for our annual budget for them? What would be the difference in cost for a nanny share for the same amount of time?

Ranges are fine - just want to get an idea if we can afford to get a nanny of if I will have to work FT. I'd prefer not to but being that I have the higher salary might need to....

Thanks!