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Paid childcare

Discuss everything related to paid childcare here, including childminders, nannies, nurseries and au pairs.

Original poster

if you are a nanny, would you accept less pay if there was lots of time off?

31 replies

citybranch · 19/10/2009 14:30

I think a live out nanny would work really well for our family when I go back in the spring, but looking at what a typical nanny charges here (Essex) it seems pretty unaffordable.

DH and I are both shiftworkers and we plan to do opposing shifts. We are both on a rolling roster and the shift starts and finishes vary wildly, plus we do some weekends and then get days off in the week.
Fulltime childcare seems to be the best option (had p/t childcare after returning to work after DS - it did not work as there was no time for sleep!)

We get a lot of annual leave which we sometimes take at different times, where we wouldn't need a nanny, so could offer this as a perk.

This is kind of what I'm thinking:
Agreed hours 9-6, mon-fri but one weekend required per month (plenty of notice given of which weekend). When the weekend is worked, 2 days off will be in the week.

In addition, at least one half day (or even full day) off in the week, paid. This would fall on our day off midweek, would probably be able to inform which day it would be a week in advance.

12 weeks paid holiday, this would fall on our annual leave dates and be in blocks of one or two weeks. Would be able to inform of dates for the year ahead well in advance. If the nanny needed a particular week or two off we would hopefully be able to arrange that if plenty of notice was given.

Duties would be to look after a 3year old boy and 8 month old girl. Both children in the morning and then drop the 3 year old at nursery at 1pm every day, and then just mind the baby. Nursery, town centre, underground train station, leisure centre, park and surestart centre are all walking distance so driving licence is not necessary.

BUT my budget for the Nanny is only £250 per week (perhaps could stretch to a tiny bit more) and I need to do the tax/N.I. out of that.
Would someone go for this or am I dreaming?
Would the time off be enough of a perk? Any advice/opinions/ideas welcome!

P.S. My employers cannot give me fixed days off because of the roster, so getting a straightforward part-time nanny not an option .

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Original poster
citybranch · 19/10/2009 15:01

Thanks for your replies! Couldn't offer Live-in, not enough bedrooms!

What about a nanny who did 4 days a week for that money? The days off would be different every week though, usually a weekend and one other day. And then the 12 weeks paid holiday too.

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gizzy1973 · 19/10/2009 15:00

I work that out to be 45 hours a week so to cover minimum wage you would need to offer about £270

You may find someone with their own child or no experience would do it - shame you aren't in my area as i would be interested

OldLadyKnowsNothing · 19/10/2009 14:59

Would a childminder suit at all? I used to CM for a couple who were both nurses, so also shift-workers, and they simply paid me a set fee each month, regardless of how much or how little I actually minded the child. It pretty much evened out over time, I knew how much I was earning each month and they knew how much they had to pay, so it suited us all.

annh · 19/10/2009 14:50

It's unclear from your post what the overall number of hours worked per week would be but at a guess, I think the salary you are offering will only come to just above minimum wage so you can only hope to get an inexperienced nanny for your money. I was going to suggest that perhaps an aupair would work if you could put the children in nursery for more hours and just have her cover beginnings and ends of the day and weekends but realised that your budget probably wouldn't cover both the aupair cost and the increased cost of nursery.

Wish I could think of another solution but hopefully someone wiser will be along in a minute with some thoughts!

argento · 19/10/2009 14:48

You're offering a gross annual salary of around £13000 - that's pretty low for someone to live on in the south east/London. Even with all the time off, the nanny would still have to pay her rent and bills out of that.

Could you offer live-in? The wage sounds ok for a live-in nanny for a 40 hour week.

Alternatively, maybe a 20 year old newly qualified nanny still living at home? It's around the same wage a nursery nurse would be on, so maybe a nursery nurse looking for her first nanny job?

Original poster
citybranch · 19/10/2009 14:42

Forgot to say..... although the agreed hours would be 9-6 and the nanny would need to be available for those hours, there would be lots of opportunity for finishing early/coming in later.. it would all be down to which shift combination DH and I were on that week, and whether either of us needed to sleep in the daytime.

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