Nanny share vs not sharing, London

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How would sharing a nanny affect her hourly rate?

We live in central/ east London and are looking for a live out Nanny. A family on our street have asked about sharing a Nanny. Both our children will be just over one year old and we will be hiring the Nanny three days per week. There would be several benefits to sharing aside from cost, e.g. not using our house every day.

Do we offer the Nanny more for caring for two children/ families rather than one? What is a typical gross amount to offer for three days around 8am- 6pm?

If the Nanny did need to take any sick or maternity leave are there advantages to us for being in a share e.g. we split the cost of her sick pay?

Our reason for choosing a Nanny is that we want our daughter to have a very responsive carer, rather than be in a group setting. I just worry that two one year olds will limit the Nanny's responsiveness to both iyswim, as both will need plenty of attention. But I suppose this would be the situation with twins etc. Do you think the care our baby receives will be negatively impacted by there being two babies?

It would cost more but you would each pay less than having a nanny just to care for your own child.

As you both want the same 3 days of care I think it is one employment, so things like statutory sick pay would be split between you. There would be one amount of holiday entitlement (18 days I think for a 3 day a week job). One amount of employers national insurance. This is the sort of things to discuss with a nanny payroll provider.

Your child is bound to lose out in terms of the responsiveness of one to one care - when there are two children, in any type of situation, the reality is that often one has to just wait, it's inevitable. (That's often no bad thing, if handled well, it fosters independence). But I think this will be more than compensated for by the social benefits of a playmate. At about 18 months they'll start noticing and playing together, by 20 months or two years, most kids adore socialising with a wee pal. All along the way your DC will be learning how to play with and respond to a peer, which is one of the main things any of us ever has to master! A huge benefit.

We had this set up with our first and it is wonderful, providing you can negotiate reasonably over the little issues that crop up. Having a playmate really entertains the children, even from day one of the share.

We paid a small amount extra to the nanny. It was something like £12net rather than £11net (this was a while ago). We had two separate contracts because it lowers the cost of employers ni to do it this way. Up to you though.

Does anyone know about typical rates?
I read that 10-13 gross is typical in London for a one family nanny.
How much more for a share?
We would need ten hours a day for three days per week.

Also, when should we start advertising, how many months in advance? We would like to find ourselves e.g. gumtree, childcare.co.UK, rather than use an agency. How far in advance are nannies job hunting?

I will look up nanny payroll companies to research the finances.

For a nanny share I think you will be looking at £16 gross per hour. Then add in Employers NI.

Have a look at the activities you would like your child to do and then see how much it would bother you that you can't do them. Eg. most London pools wouldn't allow one carer to take 2 under 3s in the pool, gymboree has a one carer per child rule as do some of the other activities.

You'll need to get a double buggy. A side by side buggy is easier to bump down the steps to the tube, but much more difficult to get on the bus with. I could never manage to get my back/front double to the tube easily, but it was fine on the bus.

The only other negative I can think of is holidays, usually nanny chooses two and employer chooses two. Obviously both employers will need to share this, or the nanny will never get her choice of weeks, so you may end up paying for weeks when you don't need her.

I'm a nanny working in a nanny-share situation and the going rate in my area (SW London zone) is approx £12-13 net/hour for a share as opposed to £10-11 net for one family - sorry I know I should be talking in gross!

I haven't found that with gymboree or swimming Karoleann but each one might be different. I know personally I don't want to take two toddlers swimming on my own, but the pool would let me if I wanted to. I sometimes go with a friend who has an older charge who can help me out.

I am insured to drive my employers car, with 3 under 5 it's a lot easier and makes more sense than trying to wrangle all 3 on the bus, esp with a twice daily school run, so this is an option/cost you may want to consider.

I think it's really important that both parents are on the same page with their approaches, to discipline, nanny expectations and finances. It's a nightmare when you work for two families who want wildly different things and feel that their wishes should come first. Some families are happy to fund outings and activities and others aren't and it can be difficult if you're constantly trying to appease both. Likewise using the nanny as a messenger - parents in a share need to communicate with each other.