Is this extortionate for a nanny?

[planningaparty86]

We are north west based. My nanny charges £15ph net, with tax and NI etc that equates to just under £19 ph. So an 8-6day is nearly £200.

She's great with the kids in terms of activities and taking them out although I must admit I've been underwhelmed with the food - pizza for lunch is on the menu very often. She's also very pernickety in terms of mileage. If she drives 1 mile to the local park, it goes on the "extras" list.

I also kinda expect that for that price she would be doing lots of jobs around the house for me. She tends to fold away my washing but that is it.

She has 2 children under 5 to care for atm during summer hols, after September it'll mainly be just the 2 year old. Putting the 2yo in nursery would be £60 (including all good) a day whereas the nanny will be £160-200. Plus food, plus whatever she spends on days out, plus mileage.

Struggling to see the value I am getting here and thinking that she is extortionately expensive especially for this part of the world.

Any views?!

I wouldn’t pay £200 for a nanny when I could go to nursery for £60. Go for the nursery.

So you’re getting (qualified?) childcare for more than 1 child for less than £19 ph? Sounds reasonable to me.
no, I wouldn’t expect housework at that rate either.

If you can’t afford it, use the nursery 🤷‍♀️

@MrsSkylerWhite We can afford it- it's more I am struggling to see the value given it's 3x more than nursery. She arrives at 8am, so after I've got them all fed and dressed etc. Leaves at 6pm so witching hour is back with us.

Where is the value? I assumed my life would be so much easier but the differences are minimal.

I don't think it's too bad OP. Sorry! But for £180 a day, you can leave the house to go to work knowing your 2 children are looked after by the same qualified adult. They have her full attention and their own home comforts. You don't have to detour via Nursery either. Quick calculation, that if Nanny works 48 weeks of the year, her salary is £32,000 after tax - its not huge.

Or you pay £120 a day, detour via nursery, potentially have your kids be in different rooms at Nursery, with other children and different staff. Horses for courses.

She does a 10 hour shift! Great value in that case.

That sounds like crazy money to me and then charging for the mile drive and giving pizza - if rather go for the nursery

Bear in mind how many more bugs the kids pick up at nursery - and nursery won't let your kids in the door if they're sick. Whereas a nanny carries on regardless.

AssertiveGertrude · Today 14:25
That sounds like crazy money to me and then charging for the mile drive and giving pizza - if rather go for the nursery”

Around £9ph per child is less than minimum wage. You will struggle to find a nursery with qualified staff that will charge that, do t think it’s legal (unless apprentices).

I guess you’re getting a long day 1:1 or 2:1 in your own home, which can be bespoke, community orientated and similar to a parent staying at home. This greatly contrasts to 5:1 in a more institutionalised setting, with lesser community access. Both have their own value.

Nothing in your OP about whether your children are getting high quality childcare…

The value is 1:1 or 1:2 care for your children, by a single person who builds a relationship with your children, instead of there being many children and (depending on the nursery) a changing rota of staff. Also it’s done in your house so you don’t have the extra bugs and time off that are inevitable with nursery, nanny more likely to take them with the sniffles, and you don’t have to do drop off/pick up.

As for the extras, you hired a nanny, not a housekeeper.

I think you're getting an absolute bargain, to be honest. You have a qualified and experienced professional taking care of your children. Pizza is fine - would you be cross with sandwichs because there's not much practical difference?

Charging mileage is fine too imo - it's putting wear and tear on her car, using her fuel and you're also paying for her skills as a safe driver.

She's a nanny, not a housekeeper so expecting her to do house work (that doesn't directly relate to the children) is a bit unreasonable imo.

But I'm just a private Housekeeper so what do I know....

The value is this is entirely personalised. Its not a nursery provision. I wouldn't expect a nanny to be a cleaner - that's not her job!

The lunch menu might be OK if pizza is occasional. What menus were discussed when she was employed?

This option is entirely your choice. It's only a comparison for you, most don't have the choice. If you don't think the difference is worth the convenience for you, then change the arrangement to nursery when your circumstances change.

I don't think it's worth it - it's a lot more money than nursery once you factor in food for the nanny and your child, activities etc.

I think it's worth it if you work long hours and can't cover it with nursery or if you have a baby and don't want to put them in nursery yet or if you have 3 or more children but with just one two year old, I would just use a nursery

Sorry I think you're being quite unreasonable. If she's driven, you need to pay her mileage. Yes, it's just a mile, but you need to pay it.

Switch to nursery if you want, but if you're trying to do a non-flexible job, it's very difficult when your child is poorly and nursery won't let them in, or nursery is having a staffing level problem.

Buy in the food you want her to give for lunches and let her know what you've got in.

You don't sound like you like her very much which isn't a great basis for having someone care for your children, is that more the issue?

For 2 kids its fine but a nursery near me is 100 per day so there is nthing in it for 2. Thst said, i would value the higher quality vs nursery setting.

For 1 i kid honestly....
i would do

• nursery
• a cleaner for 3 hours 2 x per week
• an amazing family holiday

sweepleall · Today 14:44
I don't think it's worth it - it's a lot more money than nursery once you factor in food for the nanny and your child, activities etc”

Where are people finding nurseries that provide 10 hours of qualified care, food and outings for £90 per day per child?

I'm in London and our nursery was £80/day last year. I think it may be a little more now but certainly half what the OP is paying for the nanny

Per child, presumably? Nanny is looking after 2 under 5s.

We are NW based and pay £16.50 / hour plus tax / NI / mileage. We have school age kids, so use the nanny for wrap-around care approx 25 hours per week.

We first employed a nanny around 7 years ago, when the rate was £10/hour but I think the going rate is much higher now - around the £15/hour mark.

I suppose you need to assess do you need a nanny or can you manage nursery with work? We absolutely could not due to early starts and erratic schedules.

I think you also need to agree duties to avoid resentment. Make the hours work for you - eg change to an earlier start or later finish some days.

Be clear on housekeeping duties - this is often a sticking point as few nannies will clean. However, perhaps you can agree washing / pegging out perhaps ironing if there is a safe moment in the day, or when you get home from work. Bed change for kids. Quick hoover around if you have a cordless. You can also discuss and agree a menu and perhaps she would do a few quick shops in the week for you to lessen your load.

I think that's expensive. And why do you pay her net? In London, the going rate is between £16-20 ph gross depending on experience.

It would be worth it for me if she was an excellent nanny, but I couldn't view anyone as an excellent nanny if they were always feeding my kids pizza. Ensuring a balanced diet is a basic parental duty and nannies are in loco parentis when looking after children, often for long hours. The housework/ children's chores I'd be less bothered about if the kids liked her and she was good with them.

But I disagree with many people on this thread that she is good value simply because she turns up. It depends on the quality of care being provided.

Would nursery be 8-6 a day? What would the eldest be doing before and after school? £300 a week for nursery sounds really cheap to me?
The nanny sounds like a bargain to me you are getting 1:2 care she is taking them on days out. I'm assuming she has a positive relationship with both of them. What would you do if the nursery child is ill?
How often is she feeding pizza and what kind of pizza? My children loved making their own pizzas at that age.

At the moment yes but the OP was asking if it's worth it when it's just the two year old.

But OP is using the nanny for 2 kids for 10 hours per day so would pay at least £160 for nursery

If she sends her younger one to nursery when the older starts school

• she will have to drop off and pick up younger child
• she will have to organise after school care for older child - very difficult in many parts of UK and often unreliable
• she'll have to organise cover for school holidays, inset days, sickness and teacher strikes etc

I mean she may be able to save a few pounds but she may also have to use up her own annual leave for childcare emergencies whereas at the moment the nanny covers

If OP is unhappy about meals then she should speak to the nanny. She should expect nursery duties for the kids but most nannies don't do general housework unless specially contracted

That's very expensive! We pay our unqualified after school nanny £13ph cash in hand.

Qualified nannies looking after under 5s I'd expect to pay £15-16ph gross.

£200 a day is insane, and this is coming from someone who pays for private schooling so I'm used to high child-associated costs!

Its above average salary for the area. Ime most nannies in North would be on £14-18 gross per hour. Don't forget your employers NI, pension contributions and payroll costs on top of the hourly salary cost.

For 2 children the comparison of nursery places isn't that helpful except from a pure financial point of view. The question is whether the nanny is good value. Do you value the children being in your home, together, with flexibility of where/when to go out to suit their needs? Do you value being able to set the routine and not have to fit in with nursery nap times, meal times etc? If these are important to you then a nanny should be good value, but maybe you need to think about if your current nanny is right for you. If she's falling back on lazy meals and being pedantic about mileage, and if these things bother you, then maybe she's not right long term.