Should I be able to get a decent live in nanny for £300 per week net in London?

[hohohoIdolikeTurkey]

I have been really struggling. By decent I mean anyone with experience of being a nanny (rather than an au pair). I am going to start offering £350 but am pissed off that we can't attract good people for £300.

It may depend where you are in London, what the hours of work will be and how good the accommodation is! Could you take someone with overseas nannying experience but no UK experience for example, e.g. an Australian just arrived on a work visa?

We are in zone 2. It is for 55 hours with 2 dcs for 3 days and 3 for 2 days (3.5 and under). God that sounds awful - but they are v. good children and play well together. Accomm is lovely but not en suite. I turned down aussie today because they only have 1 yr visa and I can't bare the thought of going through all this again next year.

Bloody hell! That's one shed-load of money

Thank you Desiderata. Unfortunately it seems nannies with any experience can expect more, sometimes much more. Maybe it's a bad time of year to recruit?

I guess it is, but surely if they're live in, £300 is pretty much all spending/saving money for them?

It seems a tidy packet to me, for not much outgoing expenditure.

I wish you luck, Turkey. I guess it isn't the money incentive, but the vocation involved. There can't be many women who are childless, who have the time or inclination these days to full-time nanny.

Dh reckons that as they have to live in and therefore have less independence and don't exactly have huge earning potential ahead of them that it is fair enough. They will have more disposable cash than we will as a family of 5!

What are you minimum requirements in a nanny? 2 years FT, 1 year FT, 1 year PT, 1 holiday job? Do you want them to have a qualification? Be eligible for OFSTED registration? A little more info would probably help in advising you whether the salary is realistic or not.

Personally I wouldn't work for £300/week now but I would have for my second job (my first was PT, 3 days a week, live out with a baby boy) and possibly my third (my second job was live-in, 2 children aged 5 and 3, FT but only temp).

Minimum requirements - some prev exp, qualifications not necessary (but would be nice).
What I really want is someone who will stay with us until Sept 2011 when dd2 starts school. I have been explicit about this. Do you think that has put people off? I thought long term might be attractive to nannies too. Was I wrong?

All i would say in the interview is that you are looking for someone to be there long term it would put me off if you said that in an interview to be honest. In this climate you may have more luck getting someone but it isn't really going rate. I've been a nanny for a long time so it's hard for me to say who you'll get going to the interviews but i know a nanny who is only 24 so not a massive amount of experience and she earns £365 a week!

Please don't think of our salary in terms of disposible cash, which i know is true but we do work a large amount of hours and have no real long term perks in our contracts like maternity, pensions etc. Plus our salaries don't really get that much higher once we get to the stage in our careers like i am.
Hope you find someone good.

Hi Turkey
Maybe the nanny market has moved on....when i hired my current nanny 2 and a bit years ago, i offered her £300 net per week (2 kids - 2.5 yrs and 6 mos at that time). She has had pay rises since so she's £360 net now. She was 25 at the time i hired her.
I would keep trying to be honest. I still think that's a decent amount of money and given the recession coming and the number of city jobs that have been lost, i suspect there will be a few in the market.
have you tried nannyjob?
i used an agency (peekaboo i think) but there are also others --
best of luck hope you find someone.

I am shocked you can't find someone for that amount of money! I'm live in with 8 years experience+I'm on quite a bit less than that. Admittedly I have a separate flat but still. In this current economic climate £300 a week live in is bloody attractive if you ask me!
And while I get the point about savings, pensions etc, I've managed to save about 60% of my money each month which living in gives you the perfect chance too. I do work about 60 hours a week thou so I don't really spend it lol.

When does the job begin? This is a crap time of year to be looking for a nanny. And I suspect that is your problem. I think £300 per week is plenty if you look for someone who has 1-2 years experience. Although I think au pair experience is actually very valuable when you are hiring a live-in nanny. She needs to not only know how to look after children, but also how to to live in another person's house. I personally regard au pair experience as a bigger plus than formal nanny training. Also, someone who has been an au pair will see a nanny job as a promotion and likely be happy there for a while.

Also, I think your ambition for her to stay until 2011 is perhaps a recipe for disappointment. Nannies come and nannies go. Just as in any job, nannies generally have the right to resign with about one month's notice. This is just part of employing a nanny. So you may very well have to hire a new one ever year or two.

wewishyouawitchiechristmas - we can't offer you a flat but would you like a job

Thanks athenenoctua - esp for advice about au pair experience - I hadn't thougt of it like that. I will keep my mouth shut about the long term thing and pray we get someone who doesn't up and leave in a year. I'm on mat leave so have the time to interview at the moment. How the hell do you do this and work f/t?

Oh and job begins 19th Jan - but I don't go back to work until 2nd feb.

Agencies have said I'd have more luck in new year but I'm reluctant to leave it that late.

Something you might want to consider is offering an incentive to stay. So, rather than bumping the offering from £300 to £350, leave it at £300 and take the difference and dangle as a bonus for staying for 18 month or whatever amount/length of time suits you.

If you pay more to get someone who says she wants a long term position, but then she changes her mind in 9 months, will you resent having paid more to get someone who isn't staying any longer anyway?

Also, if you save that bonus and she does leave then you can just put it toward your recruitment search for the next one.

Have you tried greataupair.com?

I really love the bonus idea. Thanks.

I have actually just interviewed someone I like. Hooray. She is in her 40s and a mother of 2 boys in their 20s. She is Czech and has been working as an "au pair" for £100 a week. She was employed by the mother who knew she was dying and started a month after she died. She has basically been a replacement mum and only had 2 weeks off in the last 18months! Oddly she is not bitter or resentful about it. I like her more mellow attitude compared with the people I've interviewed in their early 20s. She is concerned that her English is not good enough to be teaching toddlers. I am not too concerned about that - but am not sure if I should be.

I hadn't looked at greataupair.com - but will try that next time.

I don't think it is the money that's a problem so much as the commitment you want. A nanny interested in a live-in position (especially one that isn't sep. accomodation) is ime either going to be young and single and looking for maybe their second job, or a Aussie/Kiwi with a one year visa. A young nanny will be looking to live in for a year or two at most I would think, as there are going to be big restrictions on their independence, having boyfriends etc.

You might look at kiwis/auusies who have ancestral visas which I believe are good for 5 years -- although I'm not sure how these are effecter by the new tier visa system.

I once had a nanny who was older and had grown children. It was like having a MIL who thought she knew better than I did how to raise my kids and we had some pretty big problems because of this. So, if you consider this 40 year old, I would ask a lot of questions about diets, medicne, approach to discipline, etc. and make sure her views are compatible with yours.

For example, if you like your kids to have eggs in the morning make sure nanny isn't 100% committed to a carb based breakfast. The only reason I didn't give her notice was because she resigned first.

300 is a good salary for live ins, but only if they are newly qualified/yr or 2 exp

the 2 live in nannies i know get at way over £300 a week, and they arent even in london

if you want a very exp/qualified nanny then you may need to pay more

agree most nannies like to stay in jobs for may years (i do) but they are quite in their rights to leave and give 4/8 weeks notice

you ideally want someone 19th jan - that isnt long, considering most nannies i know have to give at least 4 weeks notice,most are 6/8 AND as nearly christmas, they would either have to hand in their notice before xmas or on jan 5th when back at work

Hi

I'm a British nanny looking for a new live in position. My current contract is only temp and am looking for a long term position for the right family.

I have a level 4 in childcare, first aid certificate, CRB check + other qualifications. I'm currently studying for my degree with the OU in child development psychology and education.

I have five years experience in schools, nurseries, childrens centres and as a sole and shared charge nanny.

I can supply excellent references and full portfolio. Feel free to contact me if you'd like to discuss.

Sorry (new to mumsnet)

[email protected]
07926755112

Merry Christmas

Hi
Are you still looking for a nanny? Where in zone2 -N ? S?
I am an experienced british nanny looking for a live-in position

why would you expect someone to work 55 hours a week for £300.00, worked for that ten years ago

maidenvoyage - its live in and do you really think comments like that are at all helpful?!!

I saw a job on gumtree the other day that was £175 for 60 hours a week so I think £300 is not to be sniffed at!!