nanny costs - help please

[catgirl]

No time to search, sorry, but does anyone have an approximate idea of what a fulltime, live out, nanny would cost? To look after an 8 month old and a 4.5 year old. 4.5 year old starting full time school in September. We live in Hackney, East London. New to all this, so no idea what would be expected of a nanny/us etc. How does paying tax work etc?

Heading out now, so will check in later.

All information gratefully received! Thanks!

[nannyk]

Ooooh Fifi I think you are very very brave taking on Eleusis!!! However I totally agree with you. a professional Nanny would not be found on greataupair and other sites like that. Eleusis was just lucky to have found someone of her present nanny's caliber there. I get all my jobs (and they are in the pay range stated) from agencies. After all I expect to be working for a family who require a professional. I haven't been doing this as my career for over 10 years just to get offered minimum pay and parents like Eleusis who have attitudes that we are not worth it. I am not Mary Poppins but I come a close second according to 5 of my previous charges, and my current bosses want me to stay til the kids are in college, so I must be doing something right. Plus, I get over 1000 a week here.

[Eleusis]

Fifi, you are way out of line and if my nanny was here she'd tell you so. You don't know her well enough to go slinging insults like that.

£40k is a lot of money to some people. How much do you think NHS nurses make? What about teachers? Social workers? I know people with PHDs who don't make that.

Get off your high horse and quit your ego preaching.

Besides I never said you were lazy or didn't "deserve" it. I said it was too much to pay. Most parents can't realistically afford those wages. A lot of us work damn hard, and give all or most of their take home pay to the nanny.

And I'm curious, what is it that makes you think my nanny is an au pair? Because she'sfrom Canada? Or because the website she was on was has "aupair" in the domain name? And, actually, as I rack my brain now, I was mistaken... current nanny contacted me from my ad on nannyjob.co.uk but later told me she also saw the ad on greataupair.com. If you look at the site, you will find that while it does have millions of au pairs, there are also a few nannies in the mix.

[Anchovy]

But Eleusis, mud slinging apart (I never go there) I just think some people don't think £40k is too much to pay. My post was merely contradicting that statement.

[Eleusis]

That's fair enough, Anchovy. If you are in a position to part with some £40k of your take home pay, then by all means share the good fortune.

But, it is not realisitc to think most people are in that position. So when Fif starts preaching about what she is "worth" I feel compelled to remind her that it isn't about her worth, but parents' affordability.

[justaphase]

Have to agree with Eleusis and Jura here.

Actually I also agree with whoever said that a good nanny is priceless but it does not mean that I am able to afford that.

I found the agencies quite useless and demanding extortionate prices.

Gumtree is a bit of a jungle but you can find some jems on there, you just need to be very careful.

Before somebody jumps on me, I found my current lovely nanny through a personal recommendation which obviously is the best way.

[sinclair]

I think saying '£x is way too much to spend on y amount of childcare' is rather like saying £20k is too much to spend on a wedding - how and where you spend your money is a personal choice, and where you sit in the childcare market is the same as whether you buy 3 for 2 tights in the supermarket or whether you are a Wolfords girl.

There are plenty of nannies out there earning £100 plus net a day, and the people hiring them presumbaly are happy with the deal, as alternatives are freely available. Some of the ways to cut the costs - hiring less experienced nannies, hiring nannies without English mother tongue, having nanny live in, paying cash in hand - are for whatever reason impractical/unacceptable to some families.

Obviously you hope to find the best candidate you can within a given price bracket.

By the way, I do not assume that the best paid nannies are the best nannies. My BF once had a wonderful childminder who charged £2 an hour, DS was the only child she had so effectively they had one-on-one care in the home at a very competitive rate. It is a mistake to think that by paying less you are getting a less than perfect nanny, just as it is insulting to those willing and able to pay top dollar to assume they are gullible and/or stupid.

[nannynick]

Just ran through figures from jobs listed today at NannyJob in London, Full Time, Live Out.

400-450 net per week seems a typical figure.

Some had a daily rate, 80-90 net per day.
Some had an hourly rate, 8-9 net per hour.

The lowest I found was 300-350 net per week.

Therefore, for London area as a whole, based purely on adverts posted Today on NannyJob, I would say that rate is: 300 to 450 net per week.

[catgirl]

evening - thanks so much for all your replies - feel very honoured and loved !

would probably expect nanny to:

cook for children
school run (but it is a 3 minute walk if the lights are against you)
activities with the baby
tidy up toys etc with children (rather than for children)

not much else really, no cleaning, laundry etc, doubt we would want babysitting - we have no energy as it is!

Thanks again

[Genidef]

Is the expectation that everyone in the London area a hedge fund or private equity manager now? In most private sector jobs - let alone teaching, nursing, publishing just about most jobs I can think of very few people could afford to pay £40K for a nanny and continue to work at all. And yet loads of people have them. Go figure.

Having said that, the Norland people were quoting £450 pwk net for a nanny with one year experience. Hey, loads of Russian oligarchs have moved to the UK, why not try you're luck.