Sounds like a fair rate.

It also varies by responsibility. I am a night nurse
for a non sleep baby and I make $28 and no sleep as
I train baby to be on schedule. I do laundry and
other required requests during the night.

Sometimes it depends on how much $$$ ( or aggravation ) the investment can save you in the long run.

How much is a consultant worth? Some maybe $1,000/hr; some others, next to nothing.

Seems like just about everyone either wants a "nanny", or wants to be a "nanny". Sounds so elite, doesn't it?

Are there any objective definitions of a nanny?

There's your answer, OP.

Understood, pp.

Anonymous wrote:Thanks, pp, not sure why we don't want to share actual experiences here. When it's 100% true, there should be no concern about naming the agency. If everyone had your fear, we'd all be in bad shape.

I think I have given enough information about myself that the agency, if I named them publicly, would know that it was me posting. I doubt they would object but I just prefer not to connect my actual professional life with this forum. FWIW, I don't see your name attached to any of your posts either - that's all I'm trying to avoid.

This is an anonymous forum. The pp doesn't have to answer to you. Who the f*ck cares if you think her post is real.

Thanks, pp, not sure why we don't want to share actual experiences here. When it's 100% true, there should be no concern about naming the agency. If everyone had your fear, we'd all be in bad shape.

Anonymous wrote:22:07,

Your post is incredibly sweet, but doesn't ring true.
You sound more like an agency owner or representative, rather than a nanny.

But, here's how you can come clean, if you really are
a nanny.

1. What city do you refer to?

2. What year were the hourly rates that you refer to?

3. How extensive is your training/experience?

4. Most of all, which agency was it that got you $20./hr, when you were able to do no better than $16/hr without them? If you indeed speak the truth, the agency will appreciate the positive publicity.

Thank you for your attention to this important matter.

1. Seattle
2. 2012
3. 5+ years nannying, 3+ years teaching, 2+ years in social services
4. I'm not comfortable sharing the nanny agency's name here, but you can email me at amaranton@gmail.com if you would like to know and I'll be happy to share! I worked with three different ones in the city and have some strong feelings (positive and negative) about two of them.

22:07,

Your post is incredibly sweet, but doesn't ring true.
You sound more like an agency owner or representative, rather than a nanny.

But, here's how you can come clean, if you really are
a nanny.

1. What city do you refer to?

2. What year were the hourly rates that you refer to?

3. How extensive is your training/experience?

4. Most of all, which agency was it that got you $20./hr, when you were able to do no better than $16/hr without them? If you indeed speak the truth, the agency will appreciate the positive publicity.

Thank you for your attention to this important matter.

Anonymous wrote:If you'd want to trust an agency with quoting realistict nanny wages, you should understand that they want every family to believe that they can afford a nanny. I guess it all depends on what your idea of a nanny is. And it's more business for the agencies as long as they can convince the nanny to drop her regular rates, because "no body else will pay you what earned at your last job". Even when you were at the last job for only one year (with no rate increase). No one is happy with this dishonesty.

Not wanting to start any kind of argument, because this may be true for most people, but when I was searching for nanny jobs on my own (new to a city) I was getting offers of $13-16/hr with limited PTO. When I went to an agency, the first job I was offered was $20/hr plus full benefits (including health insurance). From my perspective as a nanny, an agency is the way to get hired as a professional at professional rates.

Might be different elsewhere or for others, though!

If you'd want to trust an agency with quoting realistict nanny wages, you should understand that they want every family to believe that they can afford a nanny. I guess it all depends on what your idea of a nanny is. And it's more business for the agencies as long as they can convince the nanny to drop her regular rates, because "no body else will pay you what earned at your last job". Even when you were at the last job for only one year (with no rate increase). No one is happy with this dishonesty.

It may be that this explains the endless "issues" that we see here between the parents and the nannies. Some think the nanny should follow parental "rules", whatever they may be. Others understand the nanny to be a real professional, and to know how to do her job.

OP, you might consider calling some agencies in your area and asking them. I know the agencies I'm registered with will advise parents on what range of salary they should expect to pay for a nanny, depending on their requirements (college/graduate degree, native speaker, cpr/first aid, driver, multilingual, how many kids, X hours per week, etc. etc.) before asking them to sign on with them officially - they will be able to give you a sense of what hourly wage their nannies (who fit your profile) in your city are being hired at.

In my city (large, but not DC), as a PP said about hers, the average wages are $15-20/hr (this is above-table, so that is gross pay, not net).