Where do you find a nanny?

[RockCrushesLizard]

I've tried all the routes I have used previously with my older children, like childcare.co.uk and local forums, but no one is biting.

I'm not underpaying, or trying to get out of paying tax et cetera it's all kosher, so I was wondering if any of you had good ideas.

I'm in Southeast London if it makes any difference

there used to be a website called 'findababysitter.com' which has rebranded as something. but that was v good.

also nextdoor.com can be good

Next door is a good shout, thanks

Try Bubble, you can search for short babysitters or more permanent positions

Also you could try East Dulwich forum, Dulwich mums and nannies facebook group or Nappyvalley.net

I’m having the same problem. Was wondering if the issue was we’ve now moved on to a nanny/ housekeeper role and either it’s not as attractive or I’m looking in the wrong places. I used to great dozens of applications through childcare.co.uk but not a single one this time.

I think there is a shortage of candidates

We’ve used childcare.co.uk for years and always been able to post an ad and wait for applications

This year, I posted an ad and got virtually nothing, then had to search profiles myself and message candidates to ask them to look at our ad and let me know if it’s of interest to them.
I would guesstimate that under 25% responded to me

We ended up hiring through word of mouth, but we are paying £3/hr more than we did in January 2020 for someone with less experience

Try searching Facebook for childcare groups in your local area, I have one called “my area childcare” it’s full of childcare providers and people needing childcare

I used nannyjobs.co.uk years ago, but the nanny who's now been with me 6 years came through an ad I put on Gumtree. The market was a bit different back then, though.

The Lady?

I'm looking for work but I am finding that what parents want does not match what I am able to do (2-3 full days). So if you are looking for a full-time nanny, be flexible and consider having two part-time nannies.

I see lots of parents looking for after-school care, but not many nannies wanting to provide that. I get messages every week asking if I will do after-school care even though my profile on ChildcareCoUk says that I am looking for 2-3 full days with babies/toddlers.

So I think there is a lot of mismatch at the moment between what nannies want and what parents need. For the nanny they need enough hours to make it a viable income, so a few hours each day does not appeal to many of them. Parents do not want to pay for all day care when they only need a few hours in the morning and after school. Some nannies may take on housekeeping duties but many probably do not want to do that.

When I was a nanny, l looked for jobs through The Lady and agencies.

If you’re prepared to say what it is your looking for, people may be able to let you know if you’re being unrealistic or unlucky.

It would definitely help if you said whst you were looking for and then we could work out if it’s an unrealistic expectation or not in terms of hours/days etc.

@nannynick

I see lots of parents looking for after-school care, but not many nannies wanting to provide that. I get messages every week asking if I will do after-school care even though my profile on ChildcareCoUk says that I am looking for 2-3 full days with babies/toddlers.

So I think there is a lot of mismatch at the moment between what nannies want and what parents need. For the nanny they need enough hours to make it a viable income, so a few hours each day does not appeal to many of them. Parents do not want to pay for all day care when they only need a few hours in the morning and after school. Some nannies may take on housekeeping duties but many probably do not want to do that.

This is most probably our problem. I’m happy to make up the hours with housekeeping work but don’t want to pay someone to do nothing. We let our old nanny go for many reasons but not wanting to move onto a more housekeeping role when the children were in school full time was one of them. I basically want to pay someone to be a SAHM to school age children but don’t know where I’d find such a person!

@karmakameleon

Have you tried sites like Nextdoor?

That's all really useful, thank you.

We're looking for a nanny housekeeper role, doing morning drop off, then looking after our one year old most of the time, housekeeping on 1-2 mornings when I'm not working. We want around between 20-30 hours per week, but are flexible as to whether that's 3 longer days, every morning or anything in between, as I can make my own hours.

I'd be really grateful to hear from nannies about what might make the role appealing.

[quote SW1amp]@karmakameleon

Have you tried sites like Nextdoor?[/quote]
Yep, tried nextdoor. Again I usually find it really useful for childcare but no one is biting this time.

There’s probably a supply issue with nannies too, thanks to covid and Brexit etc.

Your role isn’t full time so it puts a lot of nannies off because we need full time work in most cases, and it can be very hard to take a job knowing you’ll have to find another on top to fit around it to make up full time. Many nannies (myself included, sorry) are just nannies and not housekeepers (I do everything relating to the children)

Are you offering full time hours in school holidays?

@RockCrushesLizard are you advertising for a nanny or nanny housekeeper?

@WheelieBinPrincess

There’s probably a supply issue with nannies too, thanks to covid and Brexit etc.

Your role isn’t full time so it puts a lot of nannies off because we need full time work in most cases, and it can be very hard to take a job knowing you’ll have to find another on top to fit around it to make up full time. Many nannies (myself included, sorry) are just nannies and not housekeepers (I do everything relating to the children)

Are you offering full time hours in school holidays?

Absolutely understand that some people just want to look after children and not do the housekeeping side but surprised that no one is willing to do a nanny/housekeeping role (or at least not my role).

Since we’ve let go of our full time nanny we had a balance of one person who wanted to work term time only doing the after school gig and a TA from a local school working holidays. Happy to keep that or mix it up depending on what candidates want.

@SW1amp

I think there is a shortage of candidates

We’ve used childcare.co.uk for years and always been able to post an ad and wait for applications

This year, I posted an ad and got virtually nothing, then had to search profiles myself and message candidates to ask them to look at our ad and let me know if it’s of interest to them.
I would guesstimate that under 25% responded to me

We ended up hiring through word of mouth, but we are paying £3/hr more than we did in January 2020 for someone with less experience

@SW1amp

Can I ask what you’re paying? I haven’t put a salary on the ads but maybe that would help attract candidates.

@karmakameleon

£15/hr net..!

In December 2019, we advertised the same role at £12 net and had loads of applicants, then gave that nanny a pay rise to £13/hr on her 1 year anniversary, so was expecting to pay £13-14, but when we interviewed this nanny, she made it clear she wouldn't work for less than £15/hr, so we have paid it

However, like others have said, we've kept someone on full time hours despite DC being at school/nursery for large parts of the day, mostly as back up in case of any sickness days
But if the salaries keep going up, I think we will have to look for someone to do fewer hours because I can't justify paying someone £16+/hr to sit at home doing very little for 20 hours a week, just on the off chance DC are off school with a bug

@SW1amp

Thanks, that’s helpful. We’re already paying our after school nanny £15/h net but because she’s working so few hours it’s not expensive. But even offering more hours it won’t be as expensive as having a full time nanny was when they were little.

I think I also need to find somewhere else to advertise as childcare.co.uk is mostly people who want to nanny rather than doing some housekeeping.

@karmakameleon

Are you in London?

If Nextdoor and Childcare doesn't throw up anything, try asking other nannies if they know anyone looking for a role.

Being very broad brush, we found that Brazillian nannies were more open to doing housekeeping than Europeans, but many would only do pure nanny work.
But there is a very active Brazillian community who are happy to share job roles, so it would be a good starting point

Are we still talking in net salaries here? It’s not a good idea to agree salaries in net.

I’m on an annual salary not hourly but nothing is discussed in net terms, it’s unhelpful for both parties.