what exactly will/does/can a housekeeper do? and how much do they cost ? (home counties)

[LittleRedChopper]

I WFH so I can be around the children. I have 4 DC and have had a nanny before but while she is brilliant with the children and q good in the kitchen - I think it would be better to move over to a housekeeper who's happy to do a small amount of childcare, now that the children are a bit older.

Our nanny went on a planned extended holiday and now plans to return to travelling. What we discovered was that really we managed okay without her - bar a couple of hours when the older DC had activities that were at supper time that were a total PITA for the preschoolers

Have had a look on care.com and it seems to be around £8 an hour gross- does this sound right? Would be looking at 3-7pm daily I think.
Aware this is a massive first world prob
TIA for any thoughts

Different country but we're getting a housekeeper when we move into our new house in a few weeks.
DH and I will continue with school runs etc, but will have a housekeeper to clean, walk dogs, grocery shop, get dinner on, lunch boxes ready for next day etc.

I think we'll be paying around $10-$12 per hour from 2-6pm so I think £8 per hour sounds about right!

£8gross sounds very cheap for a HK. Obv area depending ......

I doubt you will get someone for that for 4hrs a day

What did you pay your nanny?

Crikey, £8 an hour is barely over minimum wage. As a Nanny I get £14 gross an hour, and I wouldn't expect a HK to get much less than me, or maybe even more in some cases.

I work as a h/keper in the Home Counties (having done 20 years of nannying with h/keeping) and now receive £15 p/h gross. I work for 3 families over a week.

We pat £15 per hour in Kent.

The pay scale on care.com is complete rubbish! For that kind of job, you should be paying minimum of £12 an hour.

what rate were you expecting op

What do you expect your housekeeper to do?
How many hours a day ?
Live in or live out?

[[http://www.edenprivatestaff.com/what-we-do/housekeepers/ this JD is interesting.

They say: "The salary range is typically from £400 – £500 net for a live in position or £450 -£550 for a live out position. Housekeepers are usually charged at the hourly rate of £10 – £15."..

If thats monthly its not muchat all!! (is it monthly do you htink? ) , .. I would expect quite a bit more , depending on th e hours .

link again

I'm afraid you won't get much for £8/hour

We pay £11/hour in the Home Counties. Our housekeeper will clean, cook, make beds, look after children, iron etc. Pretty much whatever I ask her to do.

I think £10 would be absolute minimum to pay for someone good, and I know several people who pay £15/hour.

Laska - that'll be weekly pay, not monthly.

£8 an hour is very low for someone you are entrusting with children and housework as well. It's minimum wage plus a little bit, and I assume you want someone qualified...

Id honestly pay £11 an hour for the clean, cook, make beds

I was doing a 3-7 job in Herts at £10p/h net. That was without any housekeeping at all.

If you are wanting him/her mainly for housekeeping though, will it not be really tricky for her to be cleaning when the children are home? Perhaps she could do 1.30pm-5.30pm some days, and 3-7 on the days the children have activities?

This way she could get on with jobs a lot quicker and still get dinner ready for the children and help with school pick ups every day.

good idea ginandonit