Nannies: market rates (bit controversial)

[Tanzie]

Having read on another thread ("Paying Nannies when sick") gripes from UK nannies about jobs going to girls from accession countries who will work for less, (and do more in the way of housework), is this not just pushing the market rate down for qualified/experienced nannies?

I am not in UK, but I would look at it as providing more affordable childcare, provided you can find someone trustworthy and reliable. I lived in UK briefly about 4 years ago and a nanny friend of mine was earning GBP 25,000 and got a flat thrown in with it. This is more than I was earning at the time and could never have afforded this sort of money for someone to look after my children.

I am not suggesting slave labour from Central European girls, or paying them an au pair's "pocket money" for what is essentially a nanny job, but paying them a reasonable wage and providing free accommodation means that a lot of people, who could not afford a nanny or nursery fees, will probably be able to get back to work.

Of course, there will always be those who want a Norland nanny and can afford one, but it seems to me that your average Mum would welcome these Central Europeans with open arms...

I'll run and hide now...

The thing is that makes me laugh is people will spend weeks deciding on a new car, they will test drive it and make sure it's up to scratch after all a new bmw or merc is quite a bit of money. They will spend months looking for the right house, and thousands on decorating and furnishing it, and you need allot of furniture for a 5 bed house. They will buy that Karen Millen dress, and eat at nice restaurants,
But they want to scrimp and save on someone looking after what is supposed to be their most prized 'possession'.
Ok I know this isn't everybody but believe me this applies to a lot of parents I have come across. When I was looking for my last nanny position I advertised on nannyjob and I got some interesting feedback, one family in Ascot (a very affluent area, can't get a house under 500 grand) had 4 children but only wanted to pay £150 a week for full time.

Thankfully I have found a lovely family now who appreciate me and pay the going rate, I also get a new car and cell phone.
And just to prove that nannies do help, I do the family washing and ironing as my charge is at school all day.

hatsoff. fair enough if it works two ways, in my experience i was becoming too relied upon to do those duties daily and they were not being done in the evening so it ended up taking out time in my day which i'm not there to do. I then decided i wasn't going to carry on doing this so i started my own ways of cleaning so i wasn't tidying up for the whole family for the first 2 hours of the day.

I agree that there is value-added in having a childcare qualification. But it isn;'t the be all and end all. It is possile to provide good quality, loving, educational, well-rounded childcare without a formal qualification. Rather a large amount of parents seem to manage it.

Unfortunately, very few nannies live up to the ideal picture that you are painting.

The ones I have seen are just young girls that have had maybe a year of GNVQ schooling. They are not any different to any other girl of their age and educational experience.

Let's not over-egg the pudding.

i'm not i'm 27 have 19 years experience, excellent references, qualifications etc so i do feel i deserve what i ask for because i am very good at my job and do feel i can provide more that your average au pair. I know i get very heated about this but i do feel strongly about this issue. it is very hard for me to find a job and to take a 50% pay cut i would still provide the good service abd that is annoying. we all need to earn a living and provide for our families.
Sorry for rant hope you can all understand my reasons for it.

sorry meant to be 10 years exp. oopps!

If you believe you are added value, then what are you bitchin' about?

I guess you are not the nanny that was complaining about teenage babysitters - you must have done a bit of that yourself in your 19 years...

Cool!

nNOT BITCHING ABOU ANYTHING JUST STANDING UP FOR MYSELF AND OTHERS LIKE ME. THANKYOU!!!!!

But why do you have to "stand up for yourself" if your product is so valued and so unique?

Surely you have nothing to worry about from the huddled masses that are discharged daily onto our shores.

if you can't handle my opinoins then don't give yours

Oh, am I not handling it?

Sorry, but I just can't stand when people get precious about status, possessions etc.

Am a SAHM and am not directly concerned about nannies - I am giving a very neutral POV.

I still don't understand what your USP is.

I think what a lot of parents forget or don't realise is that at the end of the day Nannies have bills to pay unless live in. I still have to pay my mortgage and everything else so I couldn't live on much less than i'm earning now. BTW I do empty and fill the dish washer, take in parcels, clear up the kitchen and run other general errands where needed. I am also treated really well by the family i work for hence I have been there nearly 2 years

But lots of jobs don't provide enough money to supprot a mortgage single-handedly. Why should a nanny be any different to, say, a teacher?

Teachers earn more than nannies

Message withdrawn

But can a teacher support a mortgage by themselves?

I'm trying my best, Cod. Need to get another drink to take me into the next round.

I wish i earned 25K a year
I'm sure some teachers could afford a mortgage it depends where you live.
I chose to move to get a house i could afford so had to take a drop in wage but not enough that i have to struggle. Why should I??

lucky them
I know for a fact that my mum earns more in one day doing supply teaching than i can in a day doing less hours

Yes I certainly don't make 25k a year lol Where are those jobs then?
I think Ameriscot2005 is just playing devils advocat really Omega so don't worry.