Light relief- mothers help for £3 an hour?!

[grobagsforever]

Following my other thread I've been browsing adverts on gum tree to get an idea of salary range. This one is a real gem www.gumtree.com/p/jobs/au-pairmothers-help-needed-150-per-week-plus-100-bonus/1067705849.

Seriously? All housework? 12 hour days?

Actually this one is worse - similar sort of hours but £100/week. www.gumtree.com/p/jobs/live-in-nanny-au-pair-in-central-london-for-11-month-old-baby-girl-st-johns-wood-london/1058035894

All these people are really wealthy but too fucking tight to pay for a nanny.

I couldn't get past the bit in that last ad which was for an 11 month old who goes to 5 classes per week including gym, music and art! What the hell kind of art is an 11 month old producing?!

What I don't understand (not the only thing) is why people would want an underpaid and exploited person looking after their DC. That can't be a good way of ensuring high quality care. We sometimes have one of DD's nursery staff babysitting and I pay more than the going rate because I:

Want them to feel positively towards us and DD.

Think that the going rate is crap for a qualified and first aid trained childcare professional.

Don't want to pay them less than our cleaner - DD is the most precious thing in the world to us and we value the people who care for her very highly.

I know Unexpected! They're probably forking out more on their baby's pointless classes than they are on her childcare. :(

You only have to attend the playgrounds and children's activities in London to see the poor people that take these jobs. The children are the ones that lose out big time. Thing is there is always another young person to replace them so if they even dare to try and get a fairer deal they will be sent on their way that day. No support, no money and then at risk of taking another job like it. I'd love the government to crack down on this but it will only likely take a child(ren) being hurt or worse for any thing big to happen. It shouldn't even be that hard to find these rogue employers just get their details from gum tree or childcare.

Art class at 11 months, what next, violin class at 18 months?

I can see that doing messy things out of the house is appealing but that's where toddler groups and children's centres come in handy. Maybe that is what they mean, though I suspect not.

Hard for government to control what someone does in their private home. So expect it is only via educating people that this sort of work can be exploitative that it may make them think twice about taking the job.

When you can't get work though you would take any job going however bad, wouldn't you?

Last one is pretty terrible as they are obviously very well off to live in that location, but want someone to do a nanny job for au pair wages.

Well, all I can say is, I hope they all get the employees they deserve for that sort of pay .... You know, pay peanuts and all that, a cliche which I am sure they are only too happy to come out with when justifying their executive salaries etc.

The ad has now been removed. I hope they have taken the reasons why on board, but I doubt it!

m.gumtree.com/p/live-in-nanny-jobs/live-in-au-pair-is-needed-in-guildford/1067873318

Wow this one too. Full time nanny role re labelled as au pair! Reported. I can't believe these people.

Mimishimmi - it isn't the advertisers getting what they deserve, it's their children. I think it is really sad that they do not value their children more highly and pay for high quality, happy carers.

The first ad has been removed, but how to report the others? It makes me angry they are still being advertised.

Unfortunately, on the face of it there is nothing particular to report in that last ad, for instance. They may use the title aupair in the heading and then call it a nanny in the ad (which it is, looking at the hours and age of youngest child) but they don't mention anything about pay so may well be prepared to pay the going rate for a nanny. I did notice they have three children of widely varying ages (baby, primary and secondary) and only 3 bedrooms though so heaven knows where the live-in nanny/aupair will be sleeping!

Unexpected, all the other ones do state pay and hours, which together are completely illegal.

unexpected it said £100 per week earlier I guess they updated following my email to them. So now they'll just offer the exploitive salary on the sly.:-(

Here is a gem of a job from Care.com - not sure when the 'au pair' is expected to take classes! To be fair it does say 'or Nanny' - but at £5 - 7 an hour! uk.care.com/looking-for-live-in-au-pair-will-consider-live-out-nanny-too-job-in-chatham/2028662?searchContextGeoRegionId=POSTCODE-GB-ME16_8DA

This one is a peach:

130 per week for sole charge 40h per week +additional shared charge +an extra child in school holidays. Oh, and cleaning, tidying, ironing and cooking for the children

Pfffft.

And this one, much the same, lots of sole charge, but this time "up to 100 per week" [faints at generosity]