How much could I expect to earn?

[GeorgieTheGorgeousGoat]

Really seriously considering giving up childminding and becoming a nanny. I would probably want part time, 3/4 days a week and would hope to earn more than I do now (£17, 000 for 40 hours/week).

Is this achievable?

Any pros or cons that I should think about?

Where do you live? Are there families around who could afford a nanny?

Are you prepared to do fairly long hours on the days you do work?

Do you have your own children? Would you need childcare for them or are you planning to be a nanny who brings own child?

I'd say yes that is achievable but a lot depends on where you are and what the market and pay rates are like. I'm in London where there are many more opportunities and you wouldn't have too much trouble finding an employer who only wants 3/4 days a week, but if you are somewhere else you might struggle much more. If you have good references from childminding that would certainly help as otherwise you'd obviously be competing against experienced nannies with nannying references.

Oh sorry, that would be helpful. I live in Berkshire, a reasonable well off area. My children are a bit older and my youngest would be 10 next year so no childcare needed.

I’m currently ofsted outstanding and never had an trouble getting work in the decade I’ve done it but just had enough I think.

Where are you based? Demand for nannies is high in some areas but not all.
At the moment you look to be earning around £8 per hour (not sure though if you are quoting net or gross) which would be low for a childminder in my area. I charge £6.25 per hour per child so earn between £6.25 per hour (if I just have 1 to look after) and £37.50 per hour (if I am bonkers enough to have 6 at once - very rarely!)
As I'm sure you know the main advantages of nannying is no time consuming paperwork and you work from your employer's home. The main disadvantages are potentially long hours according to what your employer wants rather than you choosing your hours. Also nannying if you have your own children is generally harder than being a childminder with your own children.

That income was my net profit- I’ve just done my tax return! My turnover was nearly £30k.

Bear in mind that most people who pay for a nanny are going to want a 10 to 11 hour day. Maybe even longer in Berkshire since I would guess a lot of people are commuting into London.

You won't get sick pay for short term sick.

You have to do things your employer's way not your way. A good relationship between you and your employer is really critical.

I do 10 hour days now, and don’t get paid for sick days or holidays currently.

I'm not trying to put you off! But you asked for the disadvantages.

It is certainly possible for a nanny to earn more than that in theory (my (10+ years experience) nanny earns the equivalent of a 35k gross salary for 4 kids, 44 hours a week) but absolutely everything depends on supply and demand where you are.

Oh yes sorry I know, I was just jotting down my thoughts. The biggest one for me would be to lose the lack of autonomy over my own day.

I'm a nanny in Essex

I work 2 days 8:30 - 6:00 and one day at 3:00-6:00
I charge £10 per hour after tax
I also get petrol paid & parking

I generally am left to my own devices with the 2 children I have - 1 in school.
I was a childminding assistant previously and hated it. Too many children and hardly ever allowed to leave the house. This way I can do anything with the child I have during the day

You would get paid holiday as a nanny but the level of autonomy will depend on your employer. I am happy for my nanny to plan her days with my youngest as she sees fit so they do a mixture of playgroups/museum/music group/swimming/soft play/park. She also does the school run so has constraints in term time but is free to plan the holidays as she wants. She has been with us for two years and the children are now 3 and 6.

I’m not sure what rates are like in Berkshire, we pay £13 gross in London so maybe £11-£12 where you are? So 3 days a week could be around £18,720 or £24,960 for 4 days. The general rule for holidays are you pick half and the employer picks half. If you’d be a nanny for a family with a pre-schooler then they are likely to want to go away in term time which might mean you might feel like you “waste” 2 weeks if your own children are in school (although a good excuse to do something for yourself in those days!)

Your employer would also need to provide a pension plan for you, 3% minimum from April this year. You would have to contributeas well which is deducted from your gross pay and paid into a plan for you. Most employers will use Nest as the pension provider.

You would be very employable as an ex-childminder I think as you have great childcare experience. Take time with weighing up potential employers!

That’s great to hear from a nanny employee too, thanks!

*employer

Can I ask how you ensure your nanny is paid on time?

We pay through a Tax Free Childcare account which has similar to a standing order set up on it so a set amount goes out automatically each month. If we have overtime to pay due to babysitting then I set up an extra one off payment once we are sent the payslip by the payroll company.

My childcare vouchers are paid automatically by standing order. We pay our nanny manually by bank transfer but we use a payroll company that issues a payslip every month, which prompts and reminds us to pay. We've never forgotten.

If it helps we used to have a Nanny about 3 yrs ago now - she looked after our son (9 months - 3yrs) Monday and Tuesday (8.00-6.00) and collected my daughter who was 6 at the time from school and had them both during school hols! We paid £14 per hour gross plus expenses (mileage etc). We are Hampshire but Berkshire boarder. She also nannied for another family wed - Thurs.

Your youngest being age 10 I feel could be an issue. If you are working 7am-7pm in a nanny job, 4 days per week, then will you really not need any childcare yourself, not even during school holidays?

Figures based on 2019/20 tax year, assuming you have full personal allowance of £12,500 to use.
Doing some basic maths... if you got £11 gross per hour for a 10 hour day (such as 7.30-5.30) for 4 days per week, that would be £22,880 gross annual salary. After deductions of Income Tax, National Insurance and Pension, you would get around £18,595 take home pay.

If you did the same hours but at £12 gross per hour, you would have annual salary of £24,960 with take home pay of around £19,726.

I'm on the Surrey/Berkshire border and here you could find a term-time only job if you wanted... that could earn you around £9,000 a year for doing 2 days per week, or more doing more days.
Have a look on websites like www.Childcare.co.uk and www.NannyJob.co.uk to see what jobs are being advertised in your area.

What will you do with your ten your old after school and holidays?

Dh is a shift worker so between his rest days, grandparents and older siblings, I think we could cover it.

I’ve had a quick look on childcare and seen a few jobs advertised which look good 8-5pm 3 or 4 days. One even has triplets which sounded lovely!

Good to hear no childcare issue for you, as it will make it easier to find a job if you can say that you have your own children but they won't come to work with you, plus it does not limit your area of work being near to a particular school.

8am-5pm is nice hours but consider how long it will take to get there and back, as you will be travelling at peak times.

When looking for nanny jobs on Childcare, be aware that parents may not be aware that they need to run payroll and provide a pension scheme. So talk Gross wage and provide details about nanny payroll providers such as NannyTax, NannyPaye, PayeForNannies etc.