Advice re nanny rates, London

[milkyway1304]

Our little girl started nursery in February and while she loves it she has been out as much as in due to constant illnesses, we are reaching the end of our tether trying to juggle 2 full-time jobs with childcare, as well as constant worrying. Been researching nanny options but am totally lost by suggested salaries as they seem to be quoted as per hr net, and are very variable. Can anyone give me a ballpark figure of what I would expect to pay a live out nanny with a sole charge 1 year old in North London monthly out of my pocket. Hours approx 8-630, no babysitting/housework expected. As we frequently have family visiting would likely have several fully paid half days/days off per month. Alternatively how to source a nanny share? I've only been in the UK a year so don't really have a network close by with word of mouth recommendations or advice.

In London most nannies will be looking for £10-£12ph net or £12-14ph gross. The exact wage will depend on the area you are in and the age/qualifications/experience of the nanny.

Using £12ph gross as an example. 8-6:30pm is 10.5 hours. £12 x 10.5 = £126 a day or £630 a week or £2,730 a month. That is the nanny's wage and tax/NI contributions.

On top of this you will need to pay employers NI, a payroll company, for any activities/travel the nanny does with your child and for the nanny's lunch.
To find a nanny share you can look at websites like thenannysharers.co.uk or nannyshare.co.uk. You can post an ad on the mumsnet nanny share

A nanny share will cost a little more than half of that.
section and on netmums childcare section. You can use a website like childcare.co.uk and try and find people local to you looking for or offering a share. You can also look for people just looking for nanny and ask them if they're interested in a share. You can ask neighbours or other parents in the local area. You may even find an agency who can help you find a share.

Thanks very much Outraged. Will need to do some sums. I'm torn as she loves the nursery, and as an only child I like that she's spending time with other kids. She's very attached to her keyworker already, and vice versa. On the other hand she has missed at least 40% of her days due to fevers and illness, and has lost weight since starting probably down to constant bugs. I suppose a childminder could be the best of both worlds but had trouble finding one I liked in the area.

I didn't advertise an hourly net rate - it is silly. No other industries work that way. I advertised a gross range, depending on experience. We ended up paying 30k for a very experienced nanny for 830-630. We're on the London Surrey borders.

Btw, our nanny takes her to a group every day (either a formal group or a meet up with other nannies or childminders) so she gets loads of time with other children.

Thanks euro chick! Those numbers would be just manageable for the right person. Have some thinking to do- as I said she loves the nursery so if she wasn't constantly sick it would be perfect!

We employ a nanny in Zone 2 London FT from 8-6 x Monday-Friday. The gross cost per annum to us incl NI etc is £32k. Insurance and payroll on top is about another £300. You may also wish to budget for birthday/Christmas/annual bonus. If you read MN we are paying pretty much the bottom of the going rate in London and it was difficult to find a good candidate as we wanted someone v experienced with good English. £35k is more likely especially if it's a nannyshare.

One option is to see if her key worker is interested in leaving the nursery. Depending on her level of experience she might be a good candidate at a lower salary option with an agreed scale as their experience grows. This can be a great long term option particularly if you plan to have a second child when two sets of nursery fees pretty much cost the same. In my experience the only two nursery workers I interviewed did not fancy the hours and a 5 day per week job when it came to it......

Where in N London? I am in NW London, zone 3 and the going rate round here is definitely £10 per hour net. If you're looking at 8-6.30 5 days a week, which is 52.5 hours a week, assuming a standard tax code, the calculator here gives the total cost to you including all tax etc as £39,768. Remember that has to be paid out of your taxed income!

I'm in N10, so pricey even by London standards. We have been talking about it and will give the nursery 1 more month in the hope that she's over the worst of it. If things are still not settling at that point I think we will look at either a nanny share or a childminder. I would love her to have a sense of being involved in normal family life. I have reservations about her being in a 1:1 environment without a personal recommendation. It's times like this I miss being home!

Milkyway- I'm a CM in NE London, so too far you, but we charge pretty much half the price of a nanny.

If you go on your local council website there will be a list of childminders (and nurseries) sickness wise I still get children with bugs and it's hard to keep on top of. Your DC may be just the unlucky one that gets everything!!

A nanny is the only form of childcare who will look after your ill child. A cm would send her home so same as a nursery

Many staff in nurseries sign a contract stating they won't work for a family whose child was in that nursery - or have to leave for 6mths

Wages depend on age/area and experience but as Leeds said rough guide £12gross p hour plus employers ni

It's not as much someone to look after my ill child, as to reduce the frequency that she is ill. The nursery are good, don't panic with a slight temp of the baby is well. Obviously it's normal to pick up everything in the first few weeks but I was hoping it would have settled somewhat by now.

It should improve a LOT as the weather gets warmer but in an environment with lots of children she is more likely to pick up bugs like chickenpox at an earlier age. It's worth setting aside either holiday or cash for an emergency nanny on an annual basis as its about 10 days out as far as I can work out.

Still waiting on that delight to show up so holding back 5 days along with DH

She has missed about 12 days since she started in March! We have money put aside and will fly a loving grandparent over for any longer absences, it's just so hard seeing her sick all the time. She's lost weight in the 2 months which is really upsetting too. Objectively I know she will be fine but it's just very difficult as a parent!

That's a lot :(

All kids do get bugs etc and often get them from Another child at nursery but then can't attend theirselves as poorly

Hopefully her immune system will pick up

I wouldn't leap to change childcare options right away because of this. She's getting every bug going now, but unless she has a more complex health situation she'll stop getting ill so often within a couple of months.

If you do a nanny share you'll have to negotiate with the other family what the policy will be if one child is ill and the other isn't.

I'd also say this is maybe a bit soon to be thinking about changing if everything other than illness is going well. I would say DD had roughly that number of days affected (not all totally missed, some just early pick ups) in her first four months. It culminated in a week off with chickenpox at 14 months . After that it was never nearly as bad and she stayed there until school started last September.

I know it's premature really, just starting to crack under the strain of having a sick child for the past week, while doing nights so had about 3 hours broken sleep a day! She's finally over this bug so back to nursery tomorrow to pick up something new prior to our week off next week! We have decided to give it another 6 weeks, we have 2 weeks hols and have family visiting for 3 weeks so hopefully we will manage.

I had something similar at the start with DD being sick all the time. I changed the routine to bathe her daily as soon as she got home with DH. We also spoke to her doctor who agreed her sickness wasn't normal and prescribed vitamins. With both changes things got a lot better. Now at 3 she is never sick.

I would say that you need to allow 4mnths for the illnesses to pass. I am a cm and any new child with us who has not been socialising in the same area gets EVERY bug going when they join. We visit lots of groups so all of a sudden they are exposed to lots of different germs. Tough as it is it will pass.... I promise.