Nanny Salary Tips and Advice for Nannies

Being a nanny is a career that offers flexibility and the ability to work creatively and independently. A nanny job can be lucrative if you know where to look and what to look for. These days, most parents work full time and many families from all income levels are in the market to hire a nanny. Because of this, the highest paying families can afford to be more selective and will seek a nanny with comprehensive experience and education as well as excellent references.

High profile families will offer a competitive nanny pay as well as benefits, additional perks, and travel opportunities. In turn, they will expect privacy and discretion from you, which means that as a full-time nanny you will have less freedom, and, if you are a live-in nanny , less opportunity to have guests over or to maintain a social life of your own outside the family you are working for. See the INA 2009 nanny wage survey.

Your nanny wages will depend both on your qualifications and your willingness and competence in completing a variety of tasks. If you have many years of experience, you can of course bargain for a higher salary and not have to deal with families who are unwilling to meet your expectations, because your services will be worth more to the right family. If you are fairly inexperienced, you can make up for that fact by providing references from other non-nanny jobs that involve children or education, or by having a degree in a related field such as early childhood education or health science.

Nannies salaries can vary widely depending on where the nanny job is and by the experience of the nanny. In many areas part-time nannies are in high demand and therefore demand higher pay. Part-time nannies are paid from $6 to $18 per hour based on experience and other factors. Full-time nannies are usually paid weekly. Depending on experience and what part of the country the nanny job is in it can be from $300 a week for a live-in nanny with no or little experience to $800 weekly for a nanny with years of experience. Live-out nannies make from $350 to $800 per weekly. Owning a car and driving will help you find more nanny jobs at higher salaries.

If you want to work as a live-in nanny, you may expect to be paid slightly less per hour across the board, but your living situation will vary between extremely comfortable and unmanageable stressful. Most families who want hire a live-in nanny will do everything they can to make you comfortable, but the situation will always require negotiation and honesty on everyone's part.

The nanny can expect at a minimum a private room to live in. Living arrangements can vary from a private room near the rest of the family all the way to a private separate guest house. Be sure to carefully check out in advance what type of living arrangements you will be given. It is also important to be very clear what your hours of duty will be and that you are given sufficient time off and the ability to leave the home. The kids need to be aware that when you are not working and you are in your room with the door closed you are entitled to that privacy.

Discuss the terms of nanny employment carefully and make sure that you know what is expected of you and what additional perks you will receive in addition to your salary. Some families may suggest paying a lower rate per hour, but will provide you with a car or subsidize your travel expenses to make up for it.

Parents who want you to organize a comprehensive program of activities for their children, or who want you to run errands or do housekeeper duties will also be willing to pay more for your services than parents who simply want you to supervise their children.

Think carefully about what types of services you are willing to provide, and what hours and salary range you are willing to work for. Make sure you get these in a written nanny contract before starting. Finding an employer who will match your expectations will make your nanny job much nicer.