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Editor's view

It's funny how a certain theme seems to pop up unintentionally in the many different aspects of nannying we try to present each month - to look at this issue, you might think it's deviousness or deception. The scope for dodgy characters to misuse some nanny sites on the internet, employers trying to sneak things past the taxman, would-be nannies giving false references, even children using their new-found powers of manipulation... But much 'bad' behaviour has quite innocent or justifiable motivations behind it. Children misbehave when some other need of theirs isn't being met; domestic employers aren't out to cheat, they're just trying to reduce one of their biggest household expenses (as the Government still expects them to hand over tax on a nanny's wages but refuses to give them any tax allowances as it now does on all other forms of paid childcare). And some nannies who falsify their CVs don't realise they're more likely to get decent jobs if they just honestly admit to their lack of experience. But as for the internet - while it's full of potential, the wise nanny will approach it with the caution we advise here.
It's funny how a certain theme seems to pop up unintentionally in the many different aspects of nannying we try to present each month - to look at this issue, you might think it's deviousness or deception. The scope for dodgy characters to misuse some nanny sites on the internet, employers trying to sneak things past the taxman, would-be nannies giving false references, even children using their new-found powers of manipulation... But much 'bad' behaviour has quite innocent or justifiable motivations behind it. Children misbehave when some other need of theirs isn't being met; domestic employers aren't out to cheat, they're just trying to reduce one of their biggest household expenses (as the Government still expects them to hand over tax on a nanny's wages but refuses to give them any tax allowances as it now does on all other forms of paid childcare). And some nannies who falsify their CVs don't realise they're more likely to get decent jobs if they just honestly admit to their lack of experience. But as for the internet - while it's full of potential, the wise nanny will approach it with the caution we advise here.