Nanny with own child asking for £8/hr nett - is this really the going rate?

[MizZan]

We are considering both nanny and au pair options for childcare as dc1 will be in full time school and dc2 in nursery every AM. Have had both in the past - both have worked ok for us though there are advantages and disadvantages both ways. One of the reasons we went with au pairs was not needing full time hours and having a very hard time finding nannies in our area who were ok with that. the other was cost and flexibility. however we have now gotten in contact with an experienced nanny (sounds like about 5 yrs experience) who has her own 4 motnh old and would be ok with only doing 30 hours a week, but would have her own child along the whole time.

she is asking £8/hr, net - my initial reaction was this is very high for someone bringing their own kid along (in fact it's more than we could afford, it would basically eat my entire salary after tax), but am I way off base here? we are not in london btw, but in the southeast so not much cheaper in terms of cost of living. any thoughts or am I just wasting my time thinking this might be a viable option as they'll all want this much.

You may be lucky and manage to find someone for £7 or £7.50 net, but I doubt much lower than this.

There are other considerations to having a nanny with their own child too. Your children are older now - so is the house still babyproof? Will you need stairgates and fireguards? Is there somewhere for her baby to sleep - easy enough at 4 months but what about a toddler? Will she bring food for her baby or will you be providing it from your fridge/cupboards. Will she still look after your children if they are ill - risk of her lo catching it? What will she do if her lo is ill?

I'm sure there is a few other things to think about too. Other people will be along to add their experiences

Do you know what the 'going rate' is for nannies (without children) in your area. I would expect to be paying less than that - we used to pay 80% of the going rate for a nanny with her own child. To be honest there is no way I would employ a nanny with own child without some sort of major incentive ie. a big discount. This is a controversial subject though as nannys tend to insist that there should be no drop in salary.

£8 net sounds high to me (£8 gross more like it hee hee )

When we were in a similar position (need afternoon care only, both kids in school/preschool until 1pm) we interviewed a few nursery nurses who wanted to move into nanny jobs - they wanted part-time work so that they could study in the mornings (found them via gumtree). They were looking for about £7 gross (this was just over a year ago in Cambridge area) which was more than they were earning in the nursery.

(In the end we put the kids into a private school which covered after-school as well - cheaper than any nanny options!)

Millarkie we are heading down that route as well...I can't wait (not that I want the years to pass so quickly though!! ).

That sounds high to me and there is no way that I personally would be paying that much if I had one child in full-time school and another out of the house so much. With one, I think that around GBP 9 gross is more like it (I'm in outer London.) I'm not going to restart the debate about the pros and cons of nannies with their own children - there are loads of threads on this and I have only limited experience of it with a woman who babysat for us when my nanny was off sick.

How old is the child in nursery? I am assuming three or more. WOuld consider the au pair option, but I'm also wondering if you've tried a childminder? I am currently exploring this for myself. It's possible you will find someone who will pick up the DCs from their schools and look after them in the afternoon.

i think 75% of going rate would be acceptable for a nanny with own child. I charge £10 net an hr when I babysit and nanny at evenings and weekends and charge £12 an hr for night nanny work for singles.

In leicestershire going rate can be anything from £6 net an hr for an inexperienced but qualified nanny to £10 net for a qualified teacher or childrens nurse or nannies weekends or some nanny full time.

It all depends on exp and age of the nanny - average round my area seems to be £7/8 nett so £70/80 for 8-6 but there are also jobs paying £10 nett as well

i am also in the southeast and I charge £10 - though I am worth every penny but dont have any children of my own (yet)

5years exp doesnt seem that much,guess she is about 23/24 so maybe you can haggle for 6.50

it does seem pointless to work to pay you nanny and not much else - 30hrs would cost you £240 nett ( at 8ph) - and then NI and tax on top of that - guessing about £300 gross a week for you

it may be worth seeing if you can get a registered nanny, thus saving you some money each month through a tx/voucher scheme

also sometimes but not always,part time jobs pay a little extra then full time,as obv the nanny might have hassle finding another one

I think nannies have a cheek to expect the full rate if they are bringing their own child with them.

Too high.

We are in Sth East and pay 7.20 net to a nanny who comes in to do the breakfast and then afternoon shifts - but we did bump it up to 40 hours to make it full time (adding babysitting etc).

And our nanny doesn't have a child and is experienced... I would expect a hefty discount for a nanny bringing her own baby - esp given age of baby.

£8 net would be about the going rate here - I have had two nannies with own child - varying experiences - fulltime it really didn't work but as after school pick up it was fine - the challenge on the fulltime was balancing the needs of the children - and also clinics/tests/paygroups for the right ages etc.

My view is a nanny who brings her own child is worse than a nannyshare arrangement. At least in a nannyshare arrangement both parents are on an equal footing but the nanny is bound to be distracted by her own child and that could mean yours get less than 50% of her attention. You also have to put up with the extra wear and tear on your house. I certainly wouldn't pay £8 net per hour for that unless she was such a souper douper nanny that she was easily worth at least £11 net per hour without her own child in tow! Also a four month old baby may well need to go to the doctors quite a bit so is she going to spend her nanny time taking baby and your children off to the doctors with her everytime her baby has an ailment? Also what happens re: activities - if for example you want one or both of your children to go to particular activities for which there is an entrance fee - is she going to expect you to pay the entrance fee for her baby if it is chargeable?

However, your bargaining position may be weakened a bit by the restricted hours you can offer. Have you tried advertising on gumtree as well to widen the net?

I'd look into other nannies too. If she had to pay childcare then she would be far worse off. Taking your own child to work potentially saves you a lot of money so you should expect not to get the same rate as somebody that doesnt.

I don't think that's too much, personally. You get what you pay for - most of the time.

I think your initial reaction is right. I feel it is on the high side. So try negotiating it downwards.
I think we may be in an Employers Market at the moment - not many Employers, but lots of nannies - so I feel you are in a strong position to negotiate on salary.
As a nanny (18+ years childcare experience) without a child of my own, in Surrey, I was getting a little under £7.40 Gross per hour earlier this year.
Worth meeting this candidate and getting a feel for what they are like - you may find you don't gel at the initial meeting, so the money isn't then something you need to negotiate.

We had a nanny who brought own baby. Was a bit cheaper 10-20%. Didn't work out for us. Her babe cried ALOT. My DH worked from home. I think we made it to 6 months. Not for us.

Hi Mizz, i am a nanny with two children who always come to work with me, infact i am about to start a new job with a baby, and even after working a few trial days the bab loves my two, the feeling is mutual as my two love the bab, i can see the pros and cons but surely meeting the nanny and her baby is the first step, who knows you may instantly dislike her but on the other hand you may fall in love with her baby and her, she may also not take to you or your children!! But meet her then decide, if you like her and she feels at home with your family then i'm sure you can work it out,

Midget as for a baby being ill lots and having to go to the doctors, is a mad thing to say, children and adults get ill just because she has a baby doesn't mean she will be at the doctors all the time, my children have never made me have a day off work, in fact if they are going to be poorly it's usually over the weekend!!
and RE-ACTIVITIES, i pay for my children and my employer pays for me!!

Like Big Brother says, you decide
good luck!!

Oh my, didn't i write alot!! Sorry about that

ilovethecake - you are the first nanny I've come across who takes 2 of their own children to work with them. I'm impressed that you have been able to get that to work, as I would expect it would put off many employers.
Hope it keeps working out for you. I expect that once the children are school age, it's easier to find the work, as the children aren't around all day - though it also limits working area, as you would need to collect them from school.

Good morning Nick, I have two other nanny friends who both have 2 children and their second is a baby and they also work!! I have been a nanny now for 22 years, both my children are school age, and i have always worked as a nanny with them, lots of families know me around the area i live in, so babysitting is never a problem, and word of mouth is the best reference going, i have also never had time off in those 22 years, from me and my children, most families i have spoken to recently liked the fact that i am a mother, i can relate to many of their worries and their child gain big sisters to play and interact with, so just because you have children shouldn't stop you from nannying!! So if you are a nanny with your own child/ren keep looking as there are jobs out there!!

i have 3friends who have 2 children and take them to work, one has 12 so pretty self sufficent and a 5yr

other has 3 and 7 and manages to fit in school runs with job as only has a 2yr to look after

it can work - also one gets £7 and the pother both get £8 an hour - both nett

i agree to some extent with a nanny taking one child to work but taking 2 is a little extreme i think. I know there are advantages and disadvantages to having a nanny with own children.

some (not all) nannies think its their right to take their child to work with them and still get paid the same hrly rate.

If i had a baby i would consider nanny 2 days a week and taking my child with me and would normally charge £10 net an hr but would reduce that to £7-£8 net an hr to compensate.

8ph net is far too high. I would not pay that even in London for nanny with own child. I would pay a max of 6.50, after all, you will have to factor in that this is really a form of nanny share with none of the benefits.
If you can afford 8ph get a nanny who does not bring her own to work.

and a nanny bringing 2 kids to work would have to pay me!

Having employed a pregnant nanny for 12 weeks there is no way I would have a nanny with their own child. The fact is that their baby will come before yours and your the one that's paying.
She's either with her baby or at work I do not see how the two can be combined successfully. And I'd pay 2/3's of the salary if I was going to do it, because she is saving a fortune in child care as you know

Agree with others it's way too expensive, I gather a nanny share is 50:50 (presuming equal hours) so would expect this to be the same (it's what it is after all) you could argue it should be less since nannys attention/favours are bound to go more on their own child (I don't buy the arguement that nannies can overcome hundreds of thousands of years of gnetic design)
FWIW simply childcare currently has a comment on its website along the line of too many nannies chasing too few jobs ATM
wont comment on the arrangements of those nannies bringing 2 children at since I don't know enought about them!

definitely sounds too expensive to me!