This was written by Pamela Potischman from
The Nanny Bridge
www.nannybridge.com
718.928.2421

Compensation for Nannies

The following information is taken from a survey of neighborhood families, past posts on the listserv and conversations around town. Here are the results for 2007.

Starting Salary: $11-15 often multiplied to reflect a weekly salary (e.g. $600 per 50 hour week/$12/hour). More hours worked a week skewed toward the lower end of the pay scale. A majority of families who employed a nanny for 40-50 hour per week paid between $11 and $13 an hour, while families that employed a nanny 20-30 a week overwhelmingly paid between $12-15/ hour.

Raises: Raises tended to be 5-10% after 1 year. Some give larger bonuses instead of raises.

Bonus: 1 week’s salary. Some give the week off between Christmas and New Year’s in addition. Many families also give a personal gift from the family or a small gift from the child or children.

Raises for a new child: $2-3/hour or $100 more per week. It generally works out as a 20-25% raise. Some families gave smaller raises when they had an older child spending a significant amount of time in school.

Vacation: 1-2 weeks off at nanny’s choosing is the norm. In addition to that, most families pay for the time that they are on vacation. Some families that take several weeks of vacation (at least 4) give the nanny that time off, and no vacation days of her own choosing.

Sick time: 75% of families that I surveyed provide sick days. 3-5 sick days per year is typical. Many families did not have a set number of sick days, but felt that it was not an issue since their nanny never asked for them.

Personal time: This varies. Some families combine sick and personal days, giving the nanny 1-2 weeks worth of days off to use at their discretion.

Holidays: Most families give the nanny the holidays off that they get at their jobs. It is best if these days off are determined and documented up front when you hire the nanny.

Other perks: The most common non-monetary perks were cell phones, metrocards, extra vacation days (3 or 4 weeks), half-days, food provided for lunch and dinner (if they’re late).

Related Posts:

1. How much vacation and pay should your nanny get? (March 9th, 2010)
2. Where To Find A Nanny? (September 24th, 2009)
3. Nanny Survey, Pay and Responsibilities (June 19th, 2008)
4. Looking for a nanny or sitter? (April 11th, 2008)
5. New nanny and sitter finder service in Brooklyn (October 3rd, 2007)