Nannies' earnings are going up, while employers are asking for flexibility. Stephen Vahrman weighs the figures.
The good news after the year 2000 is that, for nannies, wages and professional status continue on the up!
Several of the many nanny agencies throughout the UK who took part in the Nannytax Annual Survey of Nannies' Wages, conducted for Professional Nanny, ventured the opinion that at last nannies were being paid at the levels that they deserved. The figures for current average pay levels for live-in and daily nannies in different locations seem to bear this out.
RISES OUTSTRIP FORECASTS
Although only 14 per cent of agencies taking part in last year's survey thought that wages this year would increase in real terms (above the rate of inflation), in fact the figures show that significant wage increases took place this year, in some categories even greater than last year. Over the past year daily nannies in all locations saw average wage rises of between 10 and 15 per cent. Daily nannies outside of London and the Home Counties, where wages have risen by as much as 30 per cent over the past two years, are seeing the greatest increases for the second year running.
DAILY AND LIVE-IN
The average salary for a daily nanny in central London has risen from an annual gross figure of 15,330 in 1997 to a current annual gross of Pounds 22,000, while a daily nanny in the country, which includes many of the least well-paid nannies, has seen her average gross salary rise from 9,975 in 1997 to 14,000 today. A daily nanny in outer London and the Home Counties is currently earning an average of 17,752, gross and her counterpart in other towns and cities around the UK is averaging 15,000 gross a year.
Live-in nannies are not being left behind. Annual average salaries in central London and outer London rose by 12 per cent and 10 per cent respectively over the past year. Their live-in counterparts in other towns and the countryside saw more modest increases of 6 per cent each this year, but this might have been expected since these two categories showed gains of 21 per cent and 18 percent respectively the previous year.
DEMAND AND SUPPLY
While the figures clearly show an increasingly well-rewarded workforce of nannies,the substantial rises in nannies' earnings over the past two years are probably as much an indicator of the shortage of qualified or experienced nannies available as they are of any new-found recognition from employers of the hard work and dedication of their nannies. But as parents need to pay more for their childcare arrangements, so the professional status of nannies improves as the vital role they play in their employers' lives is better appreciated.
CHANGING NEEDS
As nannies become more expensive to employ - bearing in mind that they are usually paid out of their employers' own already-taxed incomes - so patterns of employment are changing. Many working mothers are employing a nanny for three or four days a week. This is both a more affordable option than having a full-time nanny, and an attempt to balance the mother's work and home life commitments. A number of agencies also commented that there is a growing demand for nannies to care for older children after school.
The new job requirements also range from growing numbers of parents who want their nanny to do a certain amount of housekeeping, a contentious issue at the best of times, to parents who want their nanny to work only after school in term time but full-time during school holidays. So parents are paying more but asking more of their nannies.
The price that many nannies are paying for improved salary and status is a longer working day, often ending at eight or nine o'clock at night. Employers are looking for more varied working arrangements that reflect changes in their own working lives, and flexibility is highly valued in this respect. Several agencies mentioned a chronic shortage of nannies either available or prepared to take on these less traditional childcare arrangements which involve more fragmented or unsocial hours.
For a few lucky nannies this means receiving full-time wages for a part-time job, where this fits an employer's requirements. But in many cases these new types of positions are simply not being filled. No doubt many qualified nannies feel they do not carry the same job satisfaction as a sole-charge, full week's work with pre-school children - many more of whom are now attending nurseries as the quality and availability of nursery provision increases.
BABY COMES TOO
But nannies in demand are in a position of strength in the job market, so they can ask more of their employers. Nowadays more nannies are wanting to bring their own children to work with them following a period of maternity leave, and it seems that this is becoming more acceptable than in the past to employers wishing to retain their nanny.
PERKS AND SUPERPERKS
As wages are unlikely to sustain the same rate of growth as they have shown over the past two years, offering an attractive package of perks may become a more important consideration for parents seeking to retain a nanny. Yet outside of London and the Home Counties, agencies reported very few perks on offer. The exception was nannies working in the countryside, where free use of a horse or free stabling for your own horse remains a popular perk.
Top of the list of perks on offer is free accommodation, usually a flat but in more than one case a country cottage. Then comes personal use of a car outside of working hours, and a mobile phone - surely less a perk and more an essential tool of the trade these days. A few agencies mentioned health club membership and private healthcare provision. Pensions, however, still seem to be conspicuous by their absence.
Some of the more unusual perks found included a chauffeur, paid flights home to Australia and New Zealand, a personal clothes allowance, free driving lessons, and four free flights to Europe each year on a private jet. One newly qualified nanny from the north of England has reportedly been given exclusive use of a luxury houseboat in Chelsea by her London employer.
THE YEAR AHEAD
The overall picture of increasing wage rates for nannies seems to hide a number of different trends within nanny employment. At the top end of the market, nannies in high-income families are commanding excellent salaries. But many middle-income families who require flexible childcare but cannot afford a full-time nanny are looking for nannyshares or part-time or after-school help only. Live-in positions, while declining in numbers and popularity, still represent the most affordable way for some parents to employ a full-time nanny.
As for the prospects for wage rises in the coming year, the agencies surveyed were divided in their opinions. Twenty-nine per cent thought that wages would remain roughly the same, while 22 per cent foresaw a small increase to cover the rise in the cost of living. Only 9 per cent thought wages would continue to increase in real terms, and it will be interesting to see whether they are proved correct along with the 14 per cent minority who held this opinion last year.
While rising wages are welcome news for nannies, it is clear that they are adding pressure to already-changing patterns of nanny employment. One agency made a dramatic but thought-provoking reference to the current shortage of nannies and the shift from conventional full-time jobs towards part-time flexible ones as 'the death of nannying'. It remains to be seen if these more flexible styles of childcare will attract enough new nannies in future, or if nanny employment, which has widened its social base in recent years, will once more become a childcare option only for the rich.
For this survey 250 nanny agencies around the country were approached with a detailed questionnaire and 62 responded in full, including many of the best-known names. Current wage rates from Nannytax's database of more than 3,000 clients were also taken into account.
Stephen Vahrman is the proprietor of the payroll service Nannytax Average Weekly Net Wages
Live-in Nannies:
Year-end Central London Home Counties Other Cities/Towns Country Pounds wage % rise Pounds wage % rise Pounds wage % rise Pounds wage % rise 2000 239 12 203 10 179 6 172 6 1999 214 7 185 11 169 21.5 163 18 1998 200 6 166 4.5 139 2.5 138 2 1997 189 7 159 7 136 4 135 5.5 DAILY NANNIES:
Year-end Central London Home Counties Other Cities/Towns Country Pounds wage % rise Pounds wage % rise Pounds wage % rise Pounds wage % rise 2000 317 10 262 14 226 15.5 214 14 1999 289 10 230 8 196 17.5 188 15.5 1998 262 6 213 5.5 167 1.5 163 3 1997 223 6 192 6 162 6 154 8
