Nursery World - Leading Article (4)

Our pay survey in the last month's issue provoked an interesting reaction in the national pressand in local radio. Behind the assumption that all nannies are being paid what those, in our survey, only at the elite end of the market are getting, there was a sense of resentment that nannies could be earning 'so much'. Sadly, it's the same old story about the low value placed on childcare and anything's that seen as 'women's work' being taken for granted.

Sadly, it's the same old story about the low value placed on childcare and anything's that seen as 'women's work' being taken for granted.

Some working mothers might feel a bit envious that someone else is being paid a proper wage for a domestic job that they themselves would be doing, unpaid, if they weren't earning more competing out there in the male workplace. But for every mother who boasts about how little she gets away with paying her nanny, there are many more who sincerely wish they could pay her more, if only they could afford it.

In any case, the thing to do now is to make sure you're putting in the work that's worth what you're earning, and if you're not paid enough, negotiate a rise, using the advice in this month's follow-up feature on page 6.

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