Matthew0725 06:19 PM 08-23-2015
My question is not daycare related, so I apologize for that, but I am truly seeking some good honest advice because my wife and I are disagreeing about something.
The week after next, our four-year-old starts VPK. We have had a nanny for her for over two years, and we are going to be changing the way we pay her, but my wife and I are disagreeing about how we should pay her. I'll start by giving some background.
We have had this nanny for a little over two years. She has about seven years of experience, a college degree, and is also the mother of a four-year-old herself. So our daughter fortunately has a 4-5 days per week BFF. For the past two years, she has watched our daughter for an average of about 30 hours per week, and we have been paying her a weekly salary of $250 per week. (Some weeks she works a little more, a lot of weeks she works less, and some weeks she even has half or most of the week off, but we still pay her the weekly salary regardless.) This is under the table cash by the way, so we are not taking taxes out on our end. She spends about half of the day at our house, and the second half of the day at her house. She does a lot with the children, taking them out for outings, like the beach, museums, library, the zoo, etc. She also does a lot of crafts with them at the house. She is not in any way a sit in front of the TV kind of sitter. My wife does has a lot of frustrations with her because she is not the cleanest when it comes to picking up after the kids, and the house can be a bit of a mess a lot of the time when we get home from work. So that does drive my wife bonkers quite often (she's a clean freak on steroids). But we can take comfort in knowing that our little girl is being very well taken care of, has a great time with her little friend, and that the nanny loves her to death. This is the situation as it is today.
The week after next, our little girl starts preschool. So here's how the situation will be: I will drop her off at preschool, our nanny will have to pick her up at 1 o'clock, and she'll watch her until 4-5. So she will be watching our little girl about 15-20 hours per week. She will also be watching two very young children (a niece and a nephew) in addition to our daughter and hers. So there will be four children total. So that's what she will be doing starting next week.
Now for the question. I want to make sure that we are being fair to our caregiver, but we are also looking forward to saving some money in childcare costs now that we're not going to need as much of her. When I look up the national pay rates on different websites, they seem to say about $12 an hour for one child for afterschool programs. Both my wife and I think that that seems high, especially considering that she will be watching three other children besides our daughter. My wife thinks that 8 dollars an hour is "more than enough." I don't think that we should be paying her $12+ per hour, but I think that eight dollars an hour might be low. We're having a bit of a argument over this. Her argument being that A) she's getting paid under the table, and B) she's watching three other children. I don't know what the right answer is, or if there even is a "right" answer, but I certainly could use some impartial and honest advice. So in summary, she'll be watching her about 20 hours per week, she will also be watching three other children, and she will likely be doing the majority of all the watching at her house, not ours.
Blackcat31 06:26 PM 08-23-2015
Originally Posted by Matthew0725:
My question is not daycare related, so I apologize for that, but I am truly seeking some good honest advice because my wife and I are disagreeing about something.
The week after next, our four-year-old starts VPK. We have had a nanny for her for over two years, and we are going to be changing the way we pay her, but my wife and I are disagreeing about how we should pay her. I'll start by giving some background.
We have had this nanny for a little over two years. She has about seven years of experience, a college degree, and is also the mother of a four-year-old herself. So our daughter fortunately has a 4-5 days per week BFF. For the past two years, she has watched our daughter for an average of about 30 hours per week, and we have been paying her a weekly salary of $250 per week. (Some weeks she works a little more, a lot of weeks she works less, and some weeks she even has half or most of the week off, but we still pay her the weekly salary regardless.) This is under the table cash by the way, so we are not taking taxes out on our end. She spends about half of the day at our house, and the second half of the day at her house. She does a lot with the children, taking them out for outings, like the beach, museums, library, the zoo, etc. She also does a lot of crafts with them at the house. She is not in any way a sit in front of the TV kind of sitter. My wife does has a lot of frustrations with her because she is not the cleanest when it comes to picking up after the kids, and the house can be a bit of a mess a lot of the time when we get home from work. So that does drive my wife bonkers quite often (she's a clean freak on steroids). But we can take comfort in knowing that our little girl is being very well taken care of, has a great time with her little friend, and that the nanny loves her to death. This is the situation as it is today.
The week after next, our little girl starts preschool. So here's how the situation will be: I will drop her off at preschool, our nanny will have to pick her up at 1 o'clock, and she'll watch her until 4-5. So she will be watching our little girl about 15-20 hours per week. She will also be watching two very young children (a niece and a nephew) in addition to our daughter and hers. So there will be four children total. So that's what she will be doing starting next week.
Now for the question. I want to make sure that we are being fair to our caregiver, but we are also looking forward to saving some money in childcare costs now that we're not going to need as much of her. When I look up the national pay rates on different websites, they seem to say about $12 an hour for one child for afterschool programs. Both my wife and I think that that seems high, especially considering that she will be watching three other children besides our daughter. My wife thinks that 8 dollars an hour is "more than enough." I don't think that we should be paying her $12+ per hour, but I think that eight dollars an hour might be low. We're having a bit of a argument over this. Her argument being that A) she's getting paid under the table, and B) she's watching three other children. I don't know what the right answer is, or if there even is a "right" answer, but I certainly could use some impartial and honest advice. So in summary, she'll be watching her about 20 hours per week, she will also be watching three other children, and she will likely be doing the majority of all the watching at her house, not ours.
Are you in the U.S. or Canada?
Unregistered 02:01 AM 08-24-2015
Originally Posted by Blackcat31:
Are you in the U.S. or Canada?
We're in Florida
Thriftylady 05:43 AM 08-24-2015
Originally Posted by Unregistered:
We're in Florida
Well if what I heard about the cost of living in Florida is true, then $12 an hour is a fair wage. We considered moving there a few years ago until we looked into the cost of living the job hubby was being offered was not anywhere near being worth it. If you love her and want to keep her, pay her like you want to keep her, nothing is keeping her from finding another family now who would have her more hours and better pay. I guess what I am saying is that you are getting great service that you are happy with from what I hear you saying. Give her a reason to stay.
KidGrind 06:18 AM 08-24-2015
$10 per hour, stick to your schedule. If you need extra time then you should be willing to up it to $12 per hour.
littletots 07:56 AM 08-24-2015
I agree with others. Same hr rate plus a little more for gas. She'll have to pickup your daughter juggling other children. Unload, load, car seats, bad weather.
Snowmom 07:18 PM 08-23-2015
Originally Posted by Matthew0725:
My question is not daycare related, so I apologize for that, but I am truly seeking some good honest advice because my wife and I are disagreeing about something.
The week after next, our four-year-old starts VPK. We have had a nanny for her for over two years, and we are going to be changing the way we pay her, but my wife and I are disagreeing about how we should pay her. I'll start by giving some background.
We have had this nanny for a little over two years. She has about seven years of experience, a college degree, and is also the mother of a four-year-old herself. So our daughter fortunately has a 4-5 days per week BFF. For the past two years, she has watched our daughter for an average of about 30 hours per week, and we have been paying her a weekly salary of $250 per week. (Some weeks she works a little more, a lot of weeks she works less, and some weeks she even has half or most of the week off, but we still pay her the weekly salary regardless.) This is under the table cash by the way, so we are not taking taxes out on our end. She spends about half of the day at our house, and the second half of the day at her house. She does a lot with the children, taking them out for outings, like the beach, museums, library, the zoo, etc. She also does a lot of crafts with them at the house. She is not in any way a sit in front of the TV kind of sitter. My wife does has a lot of frustrations with her because she is not the cleanest when it comes to picking up after the kids, and the house can be a bit of a mess a lot of the time when we get home from work. So that does drive my wife bonkers quite often (she's a clean freak on steroids). But we can take comfort in knowing that our little girl is being very well taken care of, has a great time with her little friend, and that the nanny loves her to death. This is the situation as it is today.
The week after next, our little girl starts preschool. So here's how the situation will be: I will drop her off at preschool, our nanny will have to pick her up at 1 o'clock, and she'll watch her until 4-5. So she will be watching our little girl about 15-20 hours per week. She will also be watching two very young children (a niece and a nephew) in addition to our daughter and hers. So there will be four children total. So that's what she will be doing starting next week.
Now for the question. I want to make sure that we are being fair to our caregiver, but we are also looking forward to saving some money in childcare costs now that we're not going to need as much of her. When I look up the national pay rates on different websites, they seem to say about $12 an hour for one child for afterschool programs. Both my wife and I think that that seems high, especially considering that she will be watching three other children besides our daughter. My wife thinks that 8 dollars an hour is "more than enough." I don't think that we should be paying her $12+ per hour, but I think that eight dollars an hour might be low. We're having a bit of a argument over this. Her argument being that A) she's getting paid under the table, and B) she's watching three other children. I don't know what the right answer is, or if there even is a "right" answer, but I certainly could use some impartial and honest advice. So in summary, she'll be watching her about 20 hours per week, she will also be watching three other children, and she will likely be doing the majority of all the watching at her house, not ours.
Right now, your nanny is making 8.33/hr with no cleaning duties.
Do you reimburse her gas/expenses?
To me, that's an awfully low wage. But, I also live in a state where minimum wage for a
small employer is $7.25/hr. Nannies in my area, on average, make between $10-$15/hr, more for professional individuals and premium services (like cleaning/cooking).
I would ask the nanny what wage she thinks is fair and go from there.
Or, if technically what you are doing is a nanny-share with your family members (cousins), come to an agreement together what her wage would be.
Personally, I would offer to reimburse gas expenses along with her wage since you are requiring her to pick up your daughter from school.
As far as knowingly paying "under the table" goes.... that's really not a benefit to you or her to avoid the IRS, so.... ?
mommyneedsadayoff 08:26 PM 08-23-2015
Originally Posted by Matthew0725:
My question is not daycare related, so I apologize for that, but I am truly seeking some good honest advice because my wife and I are disagreeing about something.
The week after next, our four-year-old starts VPK. We have had a nanny for her for over two years, and we are going to be changing the way we pay her, but my wife and I are disagreeing about how we should pay her. I'll start by giving some background.
We have had this nanny for a little over two years. She has about seven years of experience, a college degree, and is also the mother of a four-year-old herself. So our daughter fortunately has a 4-5 days per week BFF. For the past two years, she has watched our daughter for an average of about 30 hours per week, and we have been paying her a weekly salary of $250 per week. (Some weeks she works a little more, a lot of weeks she works less, and some weeks she even has half or most of the week off, but we still pay her the weekly salary regardless.) This is under the table cash by the way, so we are not taking taxes out on our end. She spends about half of the day at our house, and the second half of the day at her house. She does a lot with the children, taking them out for outings, like the beach, museums, library, the zoo, etc. She also does a lot of crafts with them at the house. She is not in any way a sit in front of the TV kind of sitter. My wife does has a lot of frustrations with her because she is not the cleanest when it comes to picking up after the kids, and the house can be a bit of a mess a lot of the time when we get home from work. So that does drive my wife bonkers quite often (she's a clean freak on steroids). But we can take comfort in knowing that our little girl is being very well taken care of, has a great time with her little friend, and that the nanny loves her to death. This is the situation as it is today.
The week after next, our little girl starts preschool. So here's how the situation will be: I will drop her off at preschool, our nanny will have to pick her up at 1 o'clock, and she'll watch her until 4-5. So she will be watching our little girl about 15-20 hours per week. She will also be watching two very young children (a niece and a nephew) in addition to our daughter and hers. So there will be four children total. So that's what she will be doing starting next week.
Now for the question. I want to make sure that we are being fair to our caregiver, but we are also looking forward to saving some money in childcare costs now that we're not going to need as much of her. When I look up the national pay rates on different websites, they seem to say about $12 an hour for one child for afterschool programs. Both my wife and I think that that seems high, especially considering that she will be watching three other children besides our daughter. My wife thinks that 8 dollars an hour is "more than enough." I don't think that we should be paying her $12+ per hour, but I think that eight dollars an hour might be low. We're having a bit of a argument over this. Her argument being that A) she's getting paid under the table, and B) she's watching three other children. I don't know what the right answer is, or if there even is a "right" answer, but I certainly could use some impartial and honest advice. So in summary, she'll be watching her about 20 hours per week, she will also be watching three other children, and she will likely be doing the majority of all the watching at her house, not ours.
I wouldn't pay her less per hour than what you currently do now. If you pay her about $8.33 an hour now, then you could pay her $9-$10 per hour and you will save money, but you will also be offering a fair wage. If you love your provider, then don't let the money part ruin the situation. Finding awesome childcare that you love is priceless.