Same here. I was being paid $15 per hour plus benefits but I left for a $13 per hour job. (I don't live in DC)

I agree.

Sometimes you just have to choose your own battles in life.

I prefer a family that I have excellent chemistry with and who genuinely respects my work vs. one who pays top dollar but our personalities are too different.

However I wouldn't work for a great family who paid me peanuts.
I would need to at least make a decent, living wage. $

I agree OP, my nanny family are not able to pay top dollar, but pay fair. It is good enough for me to support myself at the moment in time. Their appreciativeness goes a long way. I have turned down many jobs with higher pay because I knew they were not a good fit. Finding the right fit is so so difficult.

I'm well aware that my MB and DB can't afford to pay top of the kine, but I would rather work with them than anyone else (at least for the next few years). I've made dinner for the three of us a couple of times and they keep thanking me, which made me uncomfortable at first, but now I've acclimated. And today MB got cupcakes for the kids on the way home and got one for me, too. There are tons of little things that they do to show that they appreciate what I do. This is why I've always said tgat I'm not looking for a specific sum of money, I'm looking for the right fit, and we can make everything else work.