Live-in nanny and food questions

[HolyLentenPromiseBatman]

1. Is all food usually provided for a live-in nanny? By all I mean breakfast, lunch and dinner 7 days a week?

1. If a family wanted the nanny to buy her own food (other than lunch on the days she works = 4 meals a week) how much extra would you advise them to pay him/her to cover this cost?

The job would be based in London if that makes any difference.

I am a live-in nanny and I get provided ALL meals, three meals a day for seven days a week plus snacks. However, most weekends I am out and have lunch/dinner with friends etc.

1. I don't know but if you only want a nanny to have four meals a week from your food the nanny would have to pay another 17 meals for herself and I would expect to be paid around an extra £50 more per week. To be honest though, if a family would expect me to buy my own food for all the other meals I wouldn't even want that job. Live-in nannies get a smaller salary because they get food and a room provided my their employers.

It's because the nanny would have their own kitchen so the family think it would be easier to get the nanny to stock her own kitchen for when she isn't working and just eat their food when she is at work.

Live-in nannies usually get full bed and board, so all meals. I'd guess maybe an extra £100 a month for buying their own food?

£50 a week sounds excessive, I spend that much on me, DP and DS.

yes all food is usually provided

breakfast / lunch / dinner / snacks / tea / coffee etc etc 7 days a week.

(as a liveout nanny i had 3 meals and snacks etc provided on working days)

Would you not be making the kids breakfast & dinner as well?

I would suggest an initial shop be done by the nanny & the employer to stock up on the basics (herbs/spices, salt, sugar, sauce, oil, some tins etc) then a weekly amount of £60... see how that goes. As a live-in nanny you are paid less and generally expect a decent standard of living (food wise), so you shouldn't have to scrape by on a paultry amount.

are you asking me?

If so, yes, i ate with the children (and ate the same as they did )

No - I'm asking the OP.

Thanks for your replies everyone.

nannyl how much extra would you want to cover the food?

Chipping the kids would already have had breakfast and would have dinner about 5pm. They have 4 little ones so in between getting up and down to get stuff/ feeding the baby/ cutting up food etc and with it being so early I think the nanny would probably rather eat later by herself.

tbh i wouldnt want any extra to cover food

i would want to be able to eat from the cupboards like most live in nannies do

if i wasnt allowed and had to buy my own (when would i get time working a 60hour week?) then i would decline the job offer.

I would also eat what the children eat, probably when the children eat. (much easier so long as they dont have a long list of allergies)

just realised i would have my own kitchen

in that case i would still intend to eat with the children, and perhaps £10 for weekend meals? not sure really!!!.... id be happy with a pint of milk added to the shopping, a box of breakfast cereal, some tea bags, and basics like that... perhaps take up with me a piece of fruit from the fruit bowl and a pack of biscuits occasionaly?

I think around £200 £300 a month extra would reflect the extra costs.

If the nanny works long hours will she have the time and energy to cook separately for herself?

'if i wasnt allowed and had to buy my own (when would i get time working a 60hour week?)'

It's only a 4 day week and less than 12 a day, so about 46hr week.

The point of being a live in nanny is that they do very long hours. It's not just the food that is provided, but the cooking time, and the shopping time. The intention of meals on duty is to stop the cooking, shopping and eating time cutting into the live in nanny's already very shorttime off duty.

So if you were offering a live in position (with live in wages) but with Live-out conditions, you aren't going to get many quality applicants.

12 hours a day is very long days, I doubt a nanny would want to cook for herself after working 11 or 12 hours. Would you?

Is this an arrangement your nanny has requested because it suits her or is it one you assume will suit a theoretical new nanny?

I had a job like this, live-in but in a flat in the house with it's own entrance and kitchen. I ate all meals on duty- usually just lunch though, I preffered to eat breakfast before work and I finished at 6.15pm so found it too early to eat before then. I got £20 a week extra for food and found that fine, as part of my job I had to do school runs and buy fresh food for the kids so I just bought my own stuff at the same time and paid seperatly. Never thought much of it to be honest, it was fine. If I babysat I'd eat after the kids go bed from the famiy's food, same as I do now as live-out.

Another job I had was technically live-in though I had a little flat over the road priovided (this was abroad). It was very, very clear in the contract that I could only have one meal a day on duty and if I babysat, so 3 or 3 times a week, I was expected to bring my own food. No extra food money, and nothing extra bought for me- they had a menu for the child, down to the number of slices of bread, and shopped to the list so I had to be careful what I ate or he would go short! Obviously that job wasn't as easy to deal with.

I'm a nanny and yes I do cook for myself after a long day.

A mum I know is looking into recruiting a nanny, they haven't had one before, she asked me and I wasn't sure, so I asked here.

I've done live-in work before and honestly would have bitten their arm of for a live-in job with it's own kitchen as it means although they will be within the house they have their own living area free from kids and any awkward kitchen related problems.

I know the mum quite well and she's a nice lady I think they want to do what's best/fair for the new nanny, hence her worrying about how much extra to pay.

They probably wouldn't mind the nanny eating with the kids, but felt that fishfingers at 5pm, whilst doing 10 other jobs wouldn't be an enjoyable dinner!

... & they are right! It's indigestion inducing!!

It does sound like a good job :) Live-in, 4 days a week, Mum that's thinking about the potential nanny... you must love your job not to be offering your services!!

I think they need to give the nanny the same amount of money they feel it would cost them to provide meals for her in their home - so she's eating to the same standard they are. Does that make sense?

(and also, as I said earlier, stock her kitchen with the basics to start off with as that can be expensive)

That's a good idea about stocking up to start with chipping I'll suggest that to her.

Luckily I do love my job (and live-in isn't for me at the moment) otherwise I'd be right round like a record baby

i nannied in a house with my own kitchen (separate apartment). I ate all meals with the children during holidays (M-F) and evening meals with them during term time. I wasn't paid any extra for food, it was all in my wages. I think it would have been weird if MB had given me money directly for my food!

When I first moved in, she filled the cupboards with essentials, and often encouraged me to take an extra tin of tomatoes etc if she had got them on special offer.

I think it is a bit much to expect an employer to pay for 7 days of food for a live-in nanny. A lot of people on this thread talk about the long hours a live-in works (which I don't argue with) BUT, when we were looking at employing a nanny, I was told a live-out would work up to 11hours a day and a live-in up to 12. The live-out nanny has a commute either end of their working day, has to pay for their accomodation and food, bills etc. and, I was told, only get an extra £100 a week (net) on average. I know which job I'd rather take!

That said, we have a brilliant live-in nanny who is so much part of the family that it wouldn't occur to me to expect her to feed herself on the weekend if she was at home. She doesn't take advantage in the slightest though and often buys herself some food for weekends / evenings.

I meant as a rule, I would say all food/snacks/drinks during the working day should be covered but not otherwise.

as for eating fish-fingers with the kids....

when i nannied i made fresh home made "proper meals".... didnt reheat processed frozen food, and i certainly didnt do extra jobs while the children were eating (except perhaps spoon feed a baby, or clear up a spilt drink)

we sat down and all enjoyed the meal that i had made (and often made enough for the parents to have some after THEIR busy day at work, MB did longer hours than me!) ...

If i had a nanny for my children i would LIKE them to sit and eat with the children, to show good manners, and to encourage the children to try food buy watching nanny eat it themselves.
I would positively NOT want nanny doing other jobs while my children were eating at the table...
and i would not want fishfingers (or similar "kids" food) served more often than occasionaly.

There's a real range of replies on this thread!

jendifa 'I wasn't paid any extra for food, it was all in my wages. I think it would have been weird if MB had given me money directly for my food!'

I think that's what they're planning to do, include it all in the wages. They want to know how much to offer e.g. £350-£400 net is about right for a five day week, but should they add on £10/£20/£30 so that it would include a bit extra for food, so the job would be offered at £370 - £420 for example.

nannyl that's great and you sound like a lovely nanny, but if this lady wants her children fed fishfingers then that is what the nanny can/will feed them. Also great that you managed to sit down and eat without dong anything extra you must be very organised, but I'm sure this mum knows how her household runs and if she thinks that time will be to busy for the nanny, then it probably will. Also even if you're serving gourmet food and everything is done surely 5pm is too early to eat dinner/supper?