To think nannies are overpaid?

[Fr0thandBubble]

Inspired by another thread about how much people earn. Plenty of nannies earning £50-£60k per year apparently and one on £120k!

Our nanny has just left us (youngest about to start reception, thank goodness) and we were paying her nearly £50k for 8:30am-6:30pm Mon-Fri. She would also pick up quite a bit of extra money babysitting evenings and weekends L. She didn’t even have to do anything from 9-12 each morning while my youngest was at nursery - and then only had my youngest to look after until school pick-up time when she had my eldest too. And nannies these days are very reluctant to help out with any cleaning or ironing so she really was doing nothing much at all in those hours.

She was lovely but has no qualifications and is in her early thirties.

It seems wrong to me that nannies are getting paid more than most teachers when they don’t need any qualifications. What do you think?!

Have I got this right. You have a job where you work all hours you are awake, when you are not awake you wake up worrying about your job, you are stressed and think the person that is nuturing and loving your child is overpaid to do the role that you cannot do due to your job. And the importance of your job is what? Real, real importance. Pl

I actually have a nanny in London, unlike OP. She’s part time and very well paid and has qualifications- it comes out to about 30k pro rata for a very light workload, no nappies, no cleaning, a little cooking, plus extra for nights she babysits when we want to go out.

Surely the real issue here is the add-ins after the take-home pay?

As a general rule of thumb, the take-home salary is just 50% of the true cost to the employer by the time you’ve taken j to consideration the NIC’s, pension, annual leave, motoring expenses, etc.

It's not wrong to value the work of someone entrusted with your children.
I think our society is at fault to value the work of nursery workers and carers so little.

I would want my nanny (if I had one) to feel highly valued. I would be very choosy about who I appointed but wouldn't necessarily make the choice based on her education as other factors would be more important to me.

Exactly @Snog

This OP comes across very badly. From the protestations about not being classist, whilst appearing to be very classist to giving herself a pat on the back for looking after her own children during maternity leave and then dumping them on a nanny so she’s been able to spend her whole life at work ever since. Then she begrudges this nanny decent pay and claims to be a lovely person! I just don’t think so!

I would also want to pay my nanny well and treat her well such that she didn't want to leave! Because I feel that continuity of care would be important for my dc. So I wouldn't be looking to pay as low a rate as I could get away with, more likely as much as I could afford to.

What you have going on here is internalised sexism op. Answer a question (based on what a pp said further upthread). Would you/do you complain about retained fire fighters being paid to sit in their station, taking the opportunity to rest, whilst waiting for their next call out? I bet it wouldn't even cross your mind and its because its traditionally been seen as men's work. Nannies are traditionally seen as female and its therefore not as acceptable for them to earn a decent wage.

What you were paying for is convenience - of being able to just leave for work in the morning, knowing that you don't have to trek halfway across London to the childminder or nursery. Of coming home to children who have been fed and bathed, whose homework has been done and so all you have to do is enjoy being with them. You didn't have to do a full day at work, then fetch your kids and do all the hard work of caring for them before you could have dinner/work/relax. You had a safe, reliable babysitter on tap. Those things are expensive.

Having been where you are, youngest starting at reception, nanny leaving, (I’m pretty sure we have the same qualification given you say 3 years which isn’t law) - you will find out very shortly how much simpler she made your life.

• Children ill, no worries Nanny will look after them, no racing home from the office.
• Inset day/random early finish at school, no need to even think about sorting childcare.
• Children’s washing done and put away
• Children’s packed lunches made
• Children fed, toys away at night etc

Ours even cooked us dinner which we never asked for but was much appreciated.

Having a nanny made your life easier in a way you are suddenly going to realise hard in September, even if you are still wfh and therefore don’t have the commute that would normally be expected.

PS your job shouldn’t be keeping you awake at night - that’s not a badge of honour!

I think it’s more than other kinds of childcare workers (nursery workers in particular) are very underpaid.

But you don’t see that because their salaries don’t come out of your bank account.

Also, there is an element of supply and demand. Good nannies command higher salaries.

[quote Fr0thandBubble]@Miljea Chippy much 🙄? Of course there is a price to be put on childcare, ridiculous comment.[/quote]

You're not liking the vast majority telling you you're 'being ridiculous' much, are you?

Nannies are super-expensive. Probably because they typically still get their salaries calculated by an hourly rate, and full time nannies do a LOT of hours.

It could be a dying industry though.
With many people working from home and long-term changes in working practices, I do think the role of the nanny will change / opportunities diminish.

It's been years since I had a nanny, but I'm doing so much virtually and not travelling all, that if I still needed one, it would be for shorter hours and no overnights.

To be honest you couldn’t pay me enough to look after other people’s kids so seems reasonable to me!!

Nannies aren’t over paid. Mothers are under valued.

THIS ^^

I think you ABU.
I'm a fully qualified nursery nurse - when you hire a full time nanny; you are paying for all those qualifications and any experience! They are essentially responsible for the most prized people in your life; your little people!
If there is an accident they are trained in paediatric first aid.
Wouldn't you want 60+K for taking care of children full time?! If being a parent meant getting paid; wouldn't you want that?!

As for cleaning/ironing - 🙄 - she is there to look after your children. An already hard enough job. She's not a skivvy!

YABU having relied on nannies as a single parent to three children I believe they are worth their weight in gold and I would pay that if I could.
They are basically a spare mum.

YANBU - I think the going rate for a nanny is extortionate. This is why so many women are effectively forced to become SAHP because the cost of a nanny far outweighs what they earn.

Bollocks they command such a high salary because they look after our loved ones all day. Nurseries and childminders do the same and charge half at least. It’s supply and demand.

50k wow

I’m a nanny. Most jobs I’ve worked 12-13 hour days. You are hiring someone to look after the thing most precious to you. Not just look after but to develop, encourage, teach and most importantly to love as though your child was their own, often putting your family and yours families needs before their own. Its 100% non stop in most roles, for the time we are with them we are their parents but we have to be so much stricter. If a child hurts themselves when home with mummy and daddy then it’s okay, accidents happen but generally whilst with the nanny they have to be so much more alert and aware continuously as accidents are a much bigger deal and could result in lost jobs.

It’s up to you whether you think having someone ensure your child’s every need is met is worth the money or not. By the sounds of it yours was very lucky to get that salary with no qualifications but it’s not unheard of. My salaries have averaged 30-40k and I think I’m worth every penny. Although I don’t agree with nannies who refuse to do housework, I always have and always will especially when little ones are sleeping but that’s the nannies prerogative and as long as you honestly advertise your role it’s easy to find one who will

Why choose a nanny what were the advantages of an untrained expensive care against nurseries or childminders who are all trained and cheaper?

You are untrusting your most treasured Poseidon to another person it’s up to you if you choose someone young and I qualified
No they don’t earn too much. In general caters for not earn enough

Why didn’t you employ a childminder or arrange a nursery then? If you want 1 on 1 care x 8 hours a day then I can see why.

Presumably your child did fun things, learnt stuff and was taken to places to socialise as well?

I'm a nanny myself. I have been for 14 years or so. I'd feel very hurt if I was your nanny and read your description of my job. Nannies here in London make between £11 and £14 net per hour, usually £12 like me. We don't need qualifications but do need DBS check and first aid training every two years. Nannies tend to work very long days therefore their salaries may seem high. If you have more than one child, it's always worth having a nanny rather than a childminder as they charge per child. Also nannies cook when the little ones are sleeping and hardly get a break. You should consider yourself lucky if your nanny gets your laundry done, believe me that makes your life a lot easier. Also think of all the days we're your children were sick and your nanny was there to look after them, nurseries and childminders don't have that flexibility. In my last job before lockdown I used to walk 12 kilometres a day!!! That includes taking eldest to nursery, little one to playgroup, picking eldest from nursery, going home for lunch/ nap time while I had to cook and entertain the eldest, various activities in the afternoon like park/ playdates. The kids would have a very different life if they were both in nursery all day. I hope you rethink your priorities in terms of "spending" money when it comes to your children's safety and well-being.

@Bugbabe1970

You are untrusting your most treasured Poseidon to another person it’s up to you if you choose someone young and I qualified No they don’t earn too much. In general caters for not earn enough

I love that it autocorrected here. I wish I had a Poseidon.