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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to be stunned at the rates some nannies expect to be paid?

171 replies

headfairy · 07/02/2011 14:45

Ok, I'm putting this here because if I put it in childcare I'll have hundreds of nannies hating me for evermore... However, recently I've had two nannies tell me they want in excess of £15ph net. Gross that up and that's what I earn, a graduate with 20 years experience working in a very high pressured environment with deadlines that have to be met every hour. Both of them have 10 years of nannying experience, but still....

I've had several more who want £12ph net, with less than 5 years nannying experience, and a few more who want £10ph net and yet they have almost no experience, and who've sent me cvs filled with spelling mistakes and grammatical errors.

I'm going to get flamed I know... I've got the hard hat ready.

OP posts:
Original poster
headfairy · 07/02/2011 15:28

can't use a nursery or childminder as the hours we need don't fit in with either (due to shift working and commutes we need someone who can do 09.30-19.30). To be a little bit fair to the nannies, they're quoting what they'd like to be paid, not what they've actually been earning. There may well be a difference. I'd like to be paid £50k for my job but realistically I don't think I'll ever earn that. We've had a pay freeze for the last two years.

OP posts:
BlackSwan · 07/02/2011 15:32

Headfairy - how can it possibly be worth your while to stay employed? Not trying to be funny... but without even using a calculator I can figure you will be out of pocket.

Laquitar · 07/02/2011 15:36

I have been on both sides. Been a nanny, then a SAHM, now i employ a nanny. Each situation has its own plus and minus points.

To be fair it is not the only job that pays 'well' with no university education. Everytime i have to pay a plumber i say the same but then again if i'm honest i couldn't be one. We are all free to choose our jobs or to change careers if we are unhappy.

curlymama · 07/02/2011 15:37

It's one of those jobs though that if they charge hardly anything, people think that are not as good quality, and they ,imit themselves.

It's like getting a bikini wax, you can pay up to £40 at a top salon, or £10 from a mobile therapist. The end result and the methods used are almost exactly the same, but if people want what is seen as the best, they will pay for it. I have a friend that does wedding make up, she charged a very reasonable price to start with, got a few bookings. She was then advised to put her prices up, and she was inundated. People assumed that because she charged more, she must be better and was more in demand. Wierd but true.

MoonUnitAlpha · 07/02/2011 15:40

Why not decide what you can afford and then advertise at that then headfairy?

Original poster
headfairy · 07/02/2011 15:42

Blackswan I know, I've done the maths too. Currently my entire salary goes on childcare, however I'm treading water until they're in full time education and then I can pick up my career again. It's a very competitive industry to get in, so leaving wouldn't be an option. I'd never get back in again. Plus when the children are older I can go back to working more flexible hours and get the extra pay that goes with that, plus I can go back to nights (ditto). Plus when the children are in full time education, we'll really only need after school care which should (should!) be cheaper.

laquitar I know what you mean about plumbers etc... my mum pays her gardeners about £10 an hour, but the thing is you only pay those people for limited time. A plumber may only spend an hour or so at a person's house, and maybe only do 3 or four jobs a day (allowing for driving time inbetween jobs), same for a gardener or similar. So they have to charge higher hourly rates, or they'd earn hardly anything. A nanny has a 10 hour day approx and does it 3/4/5 days a week so they earn more in the long run, from that one employer.

OP posts:
Original poster
headfairy · 07/02/2011 15:44

Moonunit, I did say pay according to quals and experience after I'd discussed it on the childcare topic here, there are pros and cons for doing it either way. It's been a real eye opener though because even the nannies I've seen who have really minimal experience (1 or 2 years sole charge) and who are pretty young - 21 or 22, expect to be paid £9 ph net.

OP posts:
Laquitar · 07/02/2011 15:50

No, i didn't compare the two jobs. We can't compare different jobs. I used the plumber example to say there is not point getting 'wow' at what others earn. When i paid him for a second i thought 'hmm nice job' then i asked myself 'would i really like doing it?'. There is no law that forbids anyone doing these jobs.

Figgyrolls · 07/02/2011 15:52

I am so in the wrong job! Perhaps I could get dh to pay me £15 an hour to look after the children.................worth a shot don't you think? Grin

MoonUnitAlpha · 07/02/2011 15:54

If you ask what people want to be paid they will always over-estimate though, as they expect to be negotiated down. Some of those 22 year olds might have applied to a job advertised at £8, but they aren't going to suggest £8 to you as you might be prepared to pay more.

Original poster
headfairy · 07/02/2011 15:55

I know Laquitar, didn't mean to imply you were comparing the two. I'd been mulling the same thing over in my head, and I knew if I put this in aibu I'd get a few people saying "we pay our cleaner/plumber/carpenter/handyman etc etc £15 an hour" so I had the argument going on in my head already :o

OP posts:
Original poster
headfairy · 07/02/2011 15:56

Yeah Moonunit, I do appreciate that what people would like to be paid and what they'll accept as payment are different things. It's a very steep learning curve this childcare experience isnt' it?

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Laquitar · 07/02/2011 15:57

Grin headfairy

NinkyNonker · 07/02/2011 15:58

Hmmm, as a teacher I'm obviously in the wrong area of 'childcare'!

xstitch · 07/02/2011 16:03

I always thought having a nanny would be expensive. Someone on another thread suggested that people just hire a Nanny for over 11s. At more than £5 an hour more than my hourly rate I don't see how I could do that.

Laquitar · 07/02/2011 16:03

Then you can always move to the 'right area' Grin

kepler10b · 07/02/2011 16:13

you don't have to pay that if you don't want to. no one is forcing you.

my hairdresser charges me 70 quid for a haircut. i could go to supercuts but i like the way he cuts my hair and i can afford it so i pay it. same for nannies.

not1not2 · 07/02/2011 16:20

Advantage ids thoufh if you don't eat or dringk for 12 hours you rarely need the loo Wink

not1not2 · 07/02/2011 16:20

I can usually spell

Original poster
headfairy · 07/02/2011 16:29

not1not2, you'd think so wouldn't you, but my bloody kidneys will keep on functioning in an irritating fashion so that at least once a day I need a wee :lo

OP posts:
not1not2 · 07/02/2011 16:31

Pleased you could understand me Smile

I've decided it's the rats that put me off plumbing!

BrandyAlexander · 07/02/2011 16:36

headfairy, have you had a look at the nannytax annual survey? (sorry rubbish at links!) That tells you what the going rate is for different parts of the country. I think the rates you are being quoted are excessive.

Original poster
headfairy · 07/02/2011 16:44

not1not2, and the regular prospect of having your hand down the loo fishing out "blockages"

I have novice thanks, I do think they're excessive too.

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IWantToBeAFairyWhenIGrowUp · 07/02/2011 16:44

YABU and YA underpaid IMO.

£15 net is cheap and that is what I'd charge if I decided to nanny again (19 years experience). You are paying for the 1 to 1 care of your child/children.

If you don't want to pay those rates, put your children into nursery.

IWantToBeAFairyWhenIGrowUp · 07/02/2011 16:50

Whoops missed page 2. Grin

When I was nannying it was because, like you say, the hours fitted better with my bosses. However, I only worked 5 days a week and took home £400 (bear in mind this was 12 years ago)- that was £8 p/h net then.

I think with inflation that is about right TBH.

I really think you need to bash your boss and ask for more money.