Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:We have had a string of horrible luck with nannies - hired a bad one (reference was great) and then hired a couple who took other jobs between agreeing to the job and the start date.
My question is this - we have one baby and nannies are asking for a starting salary of $18-$21 an hour for one baby.
Is this really what someone with moderate (lets say 5-8 years, or a recent graduate) experience would be getting for one child?
If so, I want to know. We are stretched thin financially and I'm trying to decide if long term it makes sense to find care or just piecemeal it together until we can get into day care. We aren't broke, but $2900/mo is such a huge chunk of my pay that I don't see the point in working (though staying home will be difficult financially, at least I know I'll show up!).
I want to work and I want to find good care - I'm just having a really difficult time. I'm even going over budget in offering $16 an hour for 40 hours and contribution to healthcare or transportation costs. Vacation, all federal holidays off, some early friday releases (when my husband gets home early, the nanny will be sent home) and a generally happy baby.
I'm just confused and trying really had to understand how this works here - I don't want to offend the person caring for my child, as I want someone who WANTS to do the job, but I have a hard time understanding how, if someone has been with a family for 3 years and is now making $21 an hour, I'm supposed to start them at $21. Wouldn't it be normal to start a little lower and get raises? Wouldn't a nanny want raises and bonuses?
How much of an automatic income reduction do you anticipate with each new job position, OP?
I'm not OP but I moved here a year ago and took a big pay cut to take a job that is exactly the same as my previous position. I'm a physician and had been at my job for 5 years so I had 5 years more experience than I had when I took my first job. But starting salaries are starting salaries for a physician regardless of how much experience you have and regardless of what you were making before so I took the pay cut. My husband's current job where he has been for a year is very far from where we live but if he were to look for a new job he would also have to take a pay cut because again, starting salaries are what they are. For people in some fields, if they change jobs it's because they are moving on to a higher position and therefore receive a higher salary. If people are making a lateral move simply because their position ended (as nanny positions unfortunately do) they sometimes have to take a pay cut when they start over at a new place. That's how the world works.
That's how the world works as long as you're earning a living wage. I don't know a doctor who can't afford a roof and something to eat every day. If your nanny can't, there's a problem. Agreed?
Anyone else note the correlation between posters who think $15 an hour is at the high end of nanny pay and at the same time think nannies have it easy and spend most of their time on the phone?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:We have had a string of horrible luck with nannies - hired a bad one (reference was great) and then hired a couple who took other jobs between agreeing to the job and the start date.
My question is this - we have one baby and nannies are asking for a starting salary of $18-$21 an hour for one baby.
Is this really what someone with moderate (lets say 5-8 years, or a recent graduate) experience would be getting for one child?
If so, I want to know. We are stretched thin financially and I'm trying to decide if long term it makes sense to find care or just piecemeal it together until we can get into day care. We aren't broke, but $2900/mo is such a huge chunk of my pay that I don't see the point in working (though staying home will be difficult financially, at least I know I'll show up!).
I want to work and I want to find good care - I'm just having a really difficult time. I'm even going over budget in offering $16 an hour for 40 hours and contribution to healthcare or transportation costs. Vacation, all federal holidays off, some early friday releases (when my husband gets home early, the nanny will be sent home) and a generally happy baby.
I'm just confused and trying really had to understand how this works here - I don't want to offend the person caring for my child, as I want someone who WANTS to do the job, but I have a hard time understanding how, if someone has been with a family for 3 years and is now making $21 an hour, I'm supposed to start them at $21. Wouldn't it be normal to start a little lower and get raises? Wouldn't a nanny want raises and bonuses?
How much of an automatic income reduction do you anticipate with each new job position, OP?
I'm not OP but I moved here a year ago and took a big pay cut to take a job that is exactly the same as my previous position. I'm a physician and had been at my job for 5 years so I had 5 years more experience than I had when I took my first job. But starting salaries are starting salaries for a physician regardless of how much experience you have and regardless of what you were making before so I took the pay cut. My husband's current job where he has been for a year is very far from where we live but if he were to look for a new job he would also have to take a pay cut because again, starting salaries are what they are. For people in some fields, if they change jobs it's because they are moving on to a higher position and therefore receive a higher salary. If people are making a lateral move simply because their position ended (as nanny positions unfortunately do) they sometimes have to take a pay cut when they start over at a new place. That's how the world works.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:We have had a string of horrible luck with nannies - hired a bad one (reference was great) and then hired a couple who took other jobs between agreeing to the job and the start date.
My question is this - we have one baby and nannies are asking for a starting salary of $18-$21 an hour for one baby.
Is this really what someone with moderate (lets say 5-8 years, or a recent graduate) experience would be getting for one child?
If so, I want to know. We are stretched thin financially and I'm trying to decide if long term it makes sense to find care or just piecemeal it together until we can get into day care. We aren't broke, but $2900/mo is such a huge chunk of my pay that I don't see the point in working (though staying home will be difficult financially, at least I know I'll show up!).
I want to work and I want to find good care - I'm just having a really difficult time. I'm even going over budget in offering $16 an hour for 40 hours and contribution to healthcare or transportation costs. Vacation, all federal holidays off, some early friday releases (when my husband gets home early, the nanny will be sent home) and a generally happy baby.
I'm just confused and trying really had to understand how this works here - I don't want to offend the person caring for my child, as I want someone who WANTS to do the job, but I have a hard time understanding how, if someone has been with a family for 3 years and is now making $21 an hour, I'm supposed to start them at $21. Wouldn't it be normal to start a little lower and get raises? Wouldn't a nanny want raises and bonuses?
How much of an automatic income reduction do you anticipate with each new job position, OP?
Anonymous wrote:We have had a string of horrible luck with nannies - hired a bad one (reference was great) and then hired a couple who took other jobs between agreeing to the job and the start date.
My question is this - we have one baby and nannies are asking for a starting salary of $18-$21 an hour for one baby.
Is this really what someone with moderate (lets say 5-8 years, or a recent graduate) experience would be getting for one child?
If so, I want to know. We are stretched thin financially and I'm trying to decide if long term it makes sense to find care or just piecemeal it together until we can get into day care. We aren't broke, but $2900/mo is such a huge chunk of my pay that I don't see the point in working (though staying home will be difficult financially, at least I know I'll show up!).
I want to work and I want to find good care - I'm just having a really difficult time. I'm even going over budget in offering $16 an hour for 40 hours and contribution to healthcare or transportation costs. Vacation, all federal holidays off, some early friday releases (when my husband gets home early, the nanny will be sent home) and a generally happy baby.
I'm just confused and trying really had to understand how this works here - I don't want to offend the person caring for my child, as I want someone who WANTS to do the job, but I have a hard time understanding how, if someone has been with a family for 3 years and is now making $21 an hour, I'm supposed to start them at $21. Wouldn't it be normal to start a little lower and get raises? Wouldn't a nanny want raises and bonuses?