Nannies/au pairs

[SMags2]

My daughter and son currently go to nursery, however, my daughter starts school in September and I'm considering hiring a live out nanny/au pair to look after my son four days a week (8am - 6pm) and my daughter before and after school, including taking her to and from school, on the same days during term time. During school holidays I would need cover for five days a week. Does anyone currently have a nanny/au pair who does this or am I looking for the impossible? Also any idea of the best way to find a nanny/au pair and how much I should expect to pay would be really helpful too. Thanks

Given the working hours an aupair is unsuitable, as they need time for studies. A livein or live out nanny would work.

What budget do you have, would it be livein or would you prefer someone who came daily? Are you city, town, or village location?

Cost is likely to be quite high. Is there a reason why you would not use a childminder?

I'm just exploring the options really. I've got a childminder in place to look after my daughter and my son could stay in nursery. I just wondered if it might be more cost effective to use a nanny for both? I'd be looking for a live out nanny and we live in West Sussex.

Of course people have nannies to do exactly this - what do you think most nannies do?

You cannot have an Au Pair doing this - it is far, far too much.

You will probably pay a bit more for a nanny than you will for the other option - but there are a LOT of advantages to having a nanny than having both a nursery and a childminder.

A nanny and an a pair are two separate jobs. You probably need to look into what a nanny is and what an au pair is before you decide whether or not to employ one!

Very very ballpark a nanny is likely to be over £500 a week.

Why 4 days termtime but 5 during holidays? Finding someone prepared to do that in my view will be tricky. Might suit someone but its narrowing your applicants. Could 4 days all year work?

When would nanny be able to take holiday, would that be limited to only be during school holidays?

I just wondered if it might be more cost effective to use a nanny for both?
If you mean cheaper, then no I doubt it would be lower cost.

Nannies are paid per family, so it can work out cheaper for families with 3 or more children but with 2 children, I would say that a childminder will usually be cheaper.

Your combination of nursery and childminder does not sound ideal as you have to take children to two different places. Perhaps at a later stage your childminder will have space available to take your son, so you can drop the nursery - or perhaps attend a pre-school for funded education hours (starts term following 3rd birthday).

A nanny may be on a salary of £10 gross (around £8 net) though could be more/less depending on experience level you need and supply/demand. If the nanny worked 50 hours a week, then calculation gives a figure a bit below £35,000 a year cost to the employer. Some costs on that calculation may not be things that apply in your case - such as the nanny using a car - but you do need to take into account all the costs involved, it is not just the nannies salary that you need to consider. In the same way with a childminder you need to consider their hourly/daily rate, plus then additional fees for things like outings, meals, anything that is not included in the hourly/daily rate.

Less hours, less cost but would you find a nanny who wanted to do 40 hours some weeks and commit to doing 50 other weeks?