Recession Lets Parents Seeking Nannies Be Picky

[AlphaCentauri]

Source: The Washington Post

Nannies and nanny agencies report that the power shift appears to have gone to some parents' heads. Prospective employers are offering some candidates salaries well below average and pushing them to handle additional tasks such as housecleaning. Some families have tried to deduct "rent" from live-in nannies' salaries — unheard of before the economic downturn, according to Debra Weiss, director of placement services for Staffing Solutions(at)Mothers' Aides in Fairfax Station.

"It's unbelievable," said Ali Burket, 28, a government affairs specialist in Alexandria who is giving up her nanny in favor of cheaper day care but is trying to help the nanny find another job. "When we hired our nanny a year ago, the difference was like night and day. The nannies were setting the terms, and it was very much a seller's market. Now my poor nanny can't find a job."

One woman wanted to pay the nanny $300 a week to care for two children and do all the housework. "It's insulting," Burket said. "Her attitude was like, 'You should be happy with what you get because of the economy.'"

Jaclyn Gobuluk, owner of Metropolitan Nannies in Herndon, said that in the past six months, she has noticed that some parents make clear their preference for a college-educated, American nanny, even if the hire has less child-rearing experience than an immigrant nanny might have. Most do not say it directly, Gobuluk says.

"They want American nannies now. ... They feel like there are so many choices out there, they're going to be really picky and that's the best choice for their children," Gobuluk said. "I had one client who said, 'My child doesn't like anybody with brown hair. Find somebody with blond hair.' I'm like, 'Hmm. Your child doesn't like somebody, or you don't like somebody, with brown hair?' We want people to be comfortable, but that's pushing it."



Read more: http://wjz.com/wireapnewsfmd/A.power.shift.2.1053367.html

[rucky]

1. No matter how bad things get

we can't let ourselves be exploited, or we'll be in this shit for a very long time.

I know that's easy for me to say, as long as I'm employed, but I think we all can see where this is heading.

[mitchum]

2. Up against the wall with them

[zalinda]

3. My son is competing for jobs

in IT support with people who have masters degrees in IT. What chance do you think he has in getting a job?

zalinda

[imdjh]

4. I have been warning a friend for years about his vulnerability

He's one of those people working outside his degree, having grown up in his career path to expertise in his work, but who could easily be replaced by a qualified person out of college who would do his job for half his salary. The only reason he hasn't been canned is because he works for a quasi-governmental corporation. The day it goes completely private, and "adult supervision" is brought in, he's history.

[Dappleganger]

5. I never understood

why someone would have kids only to turn them over to someone else to raise them.

Nannies are different than daycare, too--it's not even in the same category.

[SheilaT]

9. I'm with you on that.

A lot of people don't bother to do the actual math to figure out that all of the expenses connected to working, especially the child care costs, can easily be as much as the woman can make.

If we had the kind of free or well-subsidized day care that exists in many European countries, that would be a different matter.

[customerserviceguy]

10. I can understand how someone might want an in-home nanny over a day care center

You have considerably more control of the situation with a nanny. You can interview, do background checks, and even put in a nanny-cam to make sure that you're getting what you pay for. You don't have that option with a day care center.

Your child will get that nanny's attention, and you cannot be sure that your child will be as well attended to in a day care center.

Day care centers are breeding grounds for common colds, etc., all of which the child brings home to the family. That's true of schools, too, but until you get to the pre-school or kindergarten years, that's one more thing you can protect the rest of your family from.

If someone can get a nanny for about the same price as a day care center, I'd tell them to do it. It provides an income for someone who might not want to work with a few dozen screaming kids a day. And if it's a live-in nanny situation, then it provides a home for someone who might not be able to afford rents in the more expensive places to live.

[AlphaCentauri]

11. Modern families are different than a century ago

remember parents have to work 14 hour a day that is uniquely American.

[imdjh]

6. Imagine that- yuppies demanding American workers.

I think people should do what they need to do to raise their own kids. My friend and his wife worked opposite schedules for six years so that they didn't have to leave their kid in the care of others. Other people I know have moved in with or very near their own parents so that their kids can be raised in the extended family.

[bluestateguy]

7. A nanny? Raise your own damn kids!

The working classes should not be the only people criticized for their family values.

[Cirque du So-What]

8. Perhaps the worst thing I could possibly wish upon these yuppie scum

is that they're forced to raise their own spoiled-rotten children.

[SammyWinstonJack]

12. How about they raise their children and clean their houses like most of us do?

:think:

[themoreuknow]

13. That's funny about the "Buying American" part of the article

because I live next door to a couple who have a nanny from some Eastern European country. So it's not happening all over the place.