I'm not even talking about a live-in nanny, just one that comes to my house and watches her while I'm at work. That's one child to watch! The people at daycare have 6 or 7. To me, that seems so much harder and more stressful than watching only one. What am I missing?
-
I worked in a daycare and as a nanny. The daycare was pretty stressful! I think the reason nannies get paid more is because it's more private and personal. I don't know though...
-
No idea. I've been looking around at nannies, and I have gotten quotes as crazy as $25 an hour.
-
If a daycare teacher is watching 6 kids, the daycare is getting paid by 6 parents.
The nanny is only getting paid by 1 parent. Even if the nanny is making more, s/he is not making so much more so as to offset all those extra paying parents.
-
Nannies are usually more flexible, in terms of pick-up and drop-off, if you need to work late or leave early. They give individual attention that a baby might not get at a daycare center with numerous babies.
-
because in a daycare you are splitting the costs with other parents, when you are solely responsible for their salary (their total income, paying them a living wage) you're cost goes up.
-
Think of it from a Nanny perspective. They have to make say $400 a week to live.
They can either collect that $400/week from one child, or they can collect $100/week from 5-6 children (they might actually make more money watching more kids)!
-
In most cases, being a nanny is a full time job. They’re devoting 30-40 hours a week to your family so they should be paid accordingly. Unless they’re also working at night and on the weekends, the income that they get from their nanny gig is what they have to live on. It’s totally understandable that it would cost significantly more to hire a nanny than to use a daycare. That’s why most people don’t do it.
-
I totally agree with @MrBee. Also, nannies may not have access to other benefits that are typically offered through an employer, such as healthcare and paid vacation/sick time, so they are coming out of pocket for those things, too.
Just another thought . . . daycare workers have * back up* in that there are other employees there to help with different tasks or to lend a hand if needed (or a break!). Nannies are flying solo, which as we all know, can really be challenging sometimes.
-
Where I live (mexico) often nannies are cheaper than daycare. It's a question of the cost of human labor being cheaper here, plus for daycare they often need some kind of credentials while anyone can be a nanny, in theory!
-
I actually called the first day care place and it was as much as a nanny! But this place is known to be really expensive (I hope!).
-
@Thehistoryofus: Exactly this. I got paid $325 a week as a nanny for 2 kids and that was barely enough to pay my bills and rent.
Outside of taking care of the kids and giving 1 on 1 attention I would do their laundry, vacuum, go on play dates, use my car and gas to drive them to music classes, the library and the gym. I think that is probably part of the reason nannies are more.
-
Because the nanny spends time travelling to you and its more inconvenient for them to be in a home setting all day long rather than a daycare center where they can leave for a break and have someone else cover for them
-
Nannies are taxed differently too as independent contractors versus an incorporated unit like a daycare. Have you thought about looking into a nanny share? They're popular here and keep the cost akin to daycare. I noticed that when I was looking at daycares and nannies.
-
@cascademom: just as an FYI, nannies cannot be independent contractors, at least not here in the US. they are taxed as household employees and employers are required to withhold SS, medicare, ect.
info from the IRS:
http://www.irs.gov/publications/p926/ar02.html#en_US_2012_publink100086722 -
@mrs. bird: Whoops, that was the point I was trying to get across and saying it wrong. When we were looking, there were a lot of nannies willing to be paid under the table for this reason.
-
Adding on to what others have said, nannies cost more because you are covering their entire salary and making up for the difference in lack of benefits. A nanny is usually considered a luxury because of the cost but also because a good one will make your life easier. I keep the house running smoothly while the parents aren't here, baby's laundry is done, their room is tidy, everything is restocked. I also plan fun, developmentally appropriate activities and can offer help on a lot of questions parents have since I have been doing this for 12 years (I am on my 8th infant/toddler and I have worked with 7 school aged kids, plus three years teaching.) If that isn't worth more than minimum wage I am not sure what is!
-
You're paying a premium for the one-on-one attention! At a daycare each teacher can be responsible for up to 6 kids at a time and if a child has a need, they often have to wait.
Reply
Subscribe to our newsletter
- Google Plus
- Stumbleupon
- Twitter
- Facebook
- Pinterest
- Favorite1
17 comments