Nanny share versus sole nanny

[Northlondonma]

Hi there.

Hoping someone can help me with this as slightly confused - and sleep deprived which is probably not helping my thought process!

I am due back at work in January and work 3 days a week. I have a daughter who has just started in reception and a 10 month old. I think the best thing financially would be to get a nanny (compared with after school clubs plus holiday clubs) and am considering options. A friend of mine has a nanny share but she still pays 10 pound an hour for her son and then more in the school hols when her daughter is at home. I thought the point of a nanny share would be to split the price of the nanny with another family. A sole nanny would also be in the region of 10 pounds am hour.

Am I being extraordinarily thick? (I assume so!). Why would you share a nanny for the same price?

A share would be a little higher hourly rate but costs split between 2 families. So you are right, it should work out a little less for your friend. However it may not be a share all the time so on days the nanny cares for just your friends children they would pay more.

In your case, a sole nanny may work as then you do not have to take your children elsewhere or have other children at your house. You don't need to juggle holiday dates with another family. A nanny at £10 gross an hour is certainly possible in many areas. Employers NI and activity costs, mileage, food will increase overall cost to you as the employer.

Thanks Nannynick. It's a minefield!

Nanny rates will also depend on the profile of the nanny. Additional qualifications and experience will result in a higher rate, someone who isn't English mother tongue may be paid a little less unless it's a high status language like French or Italian where they would speak to your DC in their language so your DC become bilingual etc.

A nanny share could also be between families with DC at the same school where one has a younger child at home. For the family with the younger child they save a bit on the after school element but still end up paying a lot more because they have the nanny during the day too which the share family don't pay for during term time.

There are lots of different ways of working out how the cost is split. A FT share with 1 child in each family is going to result in a nanny costing each family around 70% of an exclusive nanny, but shares with different numbers of children or different hours could vary that.

When you do these kind of sums it's doubly important to work back from a gross wage, because sharing a nanny has tax code implications and you don't want to get a nasty surprise.

The best person to explain the terms of your friend's nanny share is your friend! Why don't you ask her why they have a nanny share, but still pay going rates? Does she live in an expensive area? Is the nanny very qualified/experienced? Is the share full-time? There are loads of variables.

I think your friend is being taken advantage of.
Nannies are not paid per child so having another child home should not raise price!