Is this a reasonable salary for nanny?

[renovatinghouse]

Hello! I would like to hire a nanny when I return to work to look after a toddler (3 years old) and a baby who will be 4 months. I live in London and will need the nanny for 8 hours a day, from 11 am until 7 pm. Is a salary of 10 pounds per hour gross reasonable? I work from home, so will be able to feed the baby (so far EBF) if I don't have any calls, otherwise will express for the nanny to feed - will also be able to occasionally look after the children for short periods during my work breaks (around 10-20 minutes) but that is totally unpredictable, depending on work load.

The toddler will be in nursery some days in the afternoon, haven't decided how many yet, so the nanny will have to drop off and pick up. We don't have a car so the nanny will have to either walk or take the bus. Will this be a problem?

I have never hired a nanny before so I am not sure if these hours and salary will be appealing to nannies with some experience. I'll be at home so I don't require many years of experience as I will be able to tell the nanny how I would like things done.

I have read meany threads here but if you have any advice or comments, they will be most welcome! thanks!

Forgot the "a" in the title.... Anyone? Thanks!

It all depends what your priorities are really. For that salary you could get a young and relatively inexperienced nanny with English as their first language, or a more experienced one with English as their second/third language.

From the nanny's point of view, less appealing aspects of the job are the fact that you are there (many nannies prefer sole charge) and the hours (most daily nannies expect to work an 11-12 hour day to earn a decent wage).

Thank you Bestest, that is what I thought. I am looking for a Spanish speaking nanny, so English as a second language is not a problem. With respect to the hours, maybe I can offer more holiday to make it more attractive?

More paid holiday, perhaps but would not change persons annual salary.

So I feel it will depend on what costs the nanny has, such as housing, travel to/from work, how much they spend on entertainment, clothes, shoes etc. A live-out nanny needs to earn enough to cover their expenditure.

£10ph gross is at the bottom end of nanny salaries in London. This combined with the shorter than normal hours results in quite a low wage. There is no harm in advertising and seeing who applies, but I expect a lot of the nannies applying would be unqualified with limited experience.

'will also be able to occasionally look after the children for short periods during my work breaks (around 10-20 minutes)'

This would be a nightmare for a nanny. It's hard enough to do a job where one of the parents works from home, but to have them in and out for 10/20 minutes at a time just wouldn't work, it will be so unsettling for the children.

Thank you so much for the replies, I may need to think again about the salary. And I had not thought that working from home and trying to "help" every now and then would be inconvenient, that's good to know!

Outraged, what are the qualifications that a nanny should have? I am completely ignorant on this... many thanks!

In terms of qualifications most will have at least a level 2/3 in childcare some may not have any qualifications but just have lots of experience to back up. But most will say if the person is serious in having a career in childcare they have some kind of qualification in childcare.

The Spanish language requirement may act in your favour - I read an article about someone advertising for an au pair who had over a thousand applications, largely from Spanish people struggling to find work at home due to the difficult economic situation there. Assuming the nanny market is similar, you may find prospective candidates are willing to be flexible on hours if it at least means the chance of a secure job. No idea where you'd advertise though!

There's a guide to qualifications here here. Tbh a Spanish nanny is unlikely to have UK qualifications - you'd need to look at what the Spanish national childcare diploma is but there are a lot of qualified EY teachers floating around.

The salary is low for live out in London, though, unless they're already living somewhere with cheapish rent (house share/boyfriend), and as said previously the hours are short do it adds up to a low annual salary.

Another option to consider would be nanny with own child although perhaps 3 under 3 would bring challenges! However I can imagine a nanny with a baby would appreciate the shorter hours and accept a slightly reduced rate.

Thank you very much for all your answers! They are very useful. Will advertise and depending on the response may increase the hourly rate or the number of hours. Thanks!