Working Moms
Thanks in Advance Ladies!
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What to pay a Live-In Nanny?
Hi there,
We are currently looking into hiring a live in Nanny- mainly so my husband and I can keep our hours without disrupting the kids routine to much- live-in due to the high cost of living in MA which warrants a higher pay rate for your Nanny if you want her to be able to afford housing.So I just wanted to bounce some numbers of you guys to make sure it's a fair offer...
As a comparable: The average monthly rent for 1 Furnished room in the area is $600, 1 BR Apartment is $700 + Utilities
So here goes:
- I'm proposing between $200-250/ week for roughly 35-40 hours of work
- 6-3pm Mon- Thur, 6-12 Fri, OFF on Weekends
- Room and Board, with Internet Access and Cell Phone Allowance
- Access to a vehicle for personal and kids use
- 4 College Courses per year + Employer Paid Health insurance (through the college)
- 2 Weeks of Paid Vacation
Thanks in Advance Ladies!
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Re: What to pay a Live-In Nanny?
Haha- Thanks. I was a Nanny for many years and struggled through unpaid Holidays and paying my way through school...so I figure that may be an incentive to stick it out with us until the kids are in Pre-School...
That is great! I hope you find an AWESOME nanny!
I should probably mention that I was an Au-Pair in 2000 and have volunteered as a Community Counselor with EurAuPair since 2003 and there are certain reasons why an Au-Pair is not feasible...
One of them being that it's like playing the lottery- you won't know how well this person will adjust after the initial culture shock and they have absolutely no social network here other than other Au-Pairs...whom they are often reluctant to reach out to... the recent batch of Au-Pairs coming from Europe has been hit or miss and refuse to put my children through dealing with a depressed, sullen homesick Au-Pair...the fact that only 1 year with an Au-Pair is pleasurable...yes you can extend but ALL my girls end up regretting that decision about 4 mths into their extension...
Actually the rate for an Au-Pair is $195.79/ week for 45 hours a week of childcare and light housekeeping...so the rate is a bit higher...and the insurance coverage would be more comprehensive than what Au-Pair insurance covers-AuPairs are on "Accident& Sickness Plans" vs. Healthplans- which means they don't have Well-Visit coverage and any pre-existing conditions are excluded.
Also- an Au-Pair gets up to $500 in Education benefits- in this case I'm looking at probably about $2000- I grant you that it is still more affordable than the $7200 Agency Fee that has been creeping up steadily every year.
When I first started work as a Community Counselor for EurAuPair in 2003 the fees to host an Au-Pair were at $3900...and the weekly stipend was $139. The stipend has incrementally increased over the last 3 years to keep pace with the increase of the minimum wage and is considered fair compensation and taxable according to the Department of Revenue.
We are 40 min. south of Boston and 15 minutes north of Providence, RI. The housing prices fluctuate wildly- so depending on the part of town you live in you can find a small 1 BR for $650 and up + Utilities. Newer and clean rentals are in the $900-1100 vicinity depending on what is included in your rent...often Basic Cable and a Washer and Dryer can be found in those units.
In comparison- I would be looking at hiring a 19 or 20 year old girl and not a well seasoned Nanny. My first full-time job paid $7.75/ hr at Target (They pay $8.25/ hr now starting) and I used to get a paycheck for $450 for 2 weeks of 40 hrs of work- including no benefits to speak of...my rent at the time was $700, even with my husband working I ended up picking up a waitress job to pay for a car to get me to work...and nowhere in the equation was I able to go to school or even think about paying for school...
Hope that helps in determining whether my offer would be a fair one...
ITA with this- we host an au pair and when you put the stipened and agency costs together you are talking about $340 per week. That does include health coverage (although I agree that it's not great coverage) but does not included the $500 toward education. The other things mentioned (car, internet access, phone allowance) are things that I give to my au pair as well, along with free international calls to land lines which costs me $14 a month, but I feel it's well worth the investment.
COL around here would be $1,300 for a one bedroom, and if you want a nanny in this area, you are looking $450 per week and up (depending on how many kids you have). I've had a few friends who had au pairs that changed to a student visa I don't think that their school is covered, but $2000 for schooling ends up being about $38 per week.
As for the "lottery" when you get an au pair, things have changed a lot, now that most people have skype you can video chat with your au pairs and get to know them more than a profile, email and one phone call. We did have one au pair that didn't work out for us, and the agency helped us pick another one at no cost to us. Not to say that few weeks wasn't stressful but it wasn't enough to deter us from doing it again this year. We will be hosting our 3rd au pair starting in April.
It seem like a pretty good deal for someone who is 19-20 . I would have loved to do something like that. If you bumped it up to $300 (7.50 an hour for 40 hours)I think you would get a better worker.
Also do they get sick days or personal days?
"It seem like a pretty good deal for someone who is 19-20 . I would have loved to do something like that. If you bumped it up to $300 (7.50 an hour for 40 hours)I think you would get a better worker.
Also do they get sick days or personal days?"
I would most definitly not expect her to work if my children shared the wonders of kiddie germs
- so yes within the realm of what is financially feasible I would def. allow for some paid sick time...My company just switched their policy to PTO so I gained 1 week of vacation and lost 7 days of sick time...but I assume I can still take it like one would take a sick day if needed...