Hello, I am a new NYC babysitter/nanny. I have about three years experience babysitting and working at preschools. I am college educated, CPR/First Aid certified, with references. I want to have set fees for charging families in Manhattan. From experience, from both babysitters and parents, is $15/hour for one child, $18 for two, $20+ for three or more, reasonable? Also, I live in Queens and will need to take a taxi home if it is after 11pm. Is asking parents for a flat rate of an extra ten dollars, if it's after 11pm, reasonable? Any suggestions, ideas, please let me know! I will be very thankful to all of you!
13 comments:
I don't think you can get home from Manhattan to Queens for $10 in a taxi, can you?
Raise your rates. Start at $17 or 18.
$10.00 for a cab from Manhattan to Queens sounds low. If it's going to cost you more to get home, then charge it!
The rates you gave $15, $18, $20, are spot on for Manhattan. As others said, It will cost a lot more than $10 to get home. Families expect to pay what the cab costs to your home, and usually after 9:00 PM, or at the latest 10:00. The cost will vary depending on where in Manhattan they live.
I'm an ex-NYC nanny & 15, 18, 20+ are good rates. Also, you will definitely need more than $10 for cab fare. If you plan on taking the subway with your charge, get your employer to buy you a monthly unlimited metro card, as of February 2011 they were $109/month I believe. You'll use it with their child & you are able to use it at all other times, a definite perk of being a public transit dependent nanny.
But back to cab fare, some families may offer a credit card in your name for cabs, which is good also. Just make sure you cover these bases! NYC is my favorite place to nanny because there is so much to do also. I need to move back there.
I have no experience with NYC, but I am curious. OP has no NANNY experience and 3 years of other childcare experience. Are her rates truly realistic? If so, what do experienced nannies earn in NYC??? How much difference is there for rates for nannies with 3 years experience versus 10+ years?
I have worked in manhattan. The going rate is $15 and Ive heard of people who charge $18 for two kids, but I never did that because I dont see why 2 is more job than one. I worked for many families during the week and was paid $15 an hour and was paid hourly. if they didn't need me, I did not get paid.
Many families told me they were looking for a babysitter who lived close by so they did not have to pay for the babysitters cab fare home. I think it can be a deal breaker for some families if they also have to pay the cab fare. I would never bring it up.
Tales;
I thought the OP was asking about babysitting for multiple families. In that case, the number of years of experience don't count as much as basic qualifications. As a college grad. with CPR certification, and three years experience she will be a very desirable sitter. Highschool students might get $10 but you don't find many families using teen sitters in Manhattan, unless they live in the same building.
For full time nanny positions salaries are somewhat based on experience, but In my experience salaries are based more on the kind of experience and skills the nanny brings rather than the number of years. Ten years will count more than three, but if a nanny has been with a family for several years and received raises, she will probably start the next job with a salary drop despite the additional years of experience.
Manhattan Nanny, re-reading the OP, you may be right - use of the word "nanny" threw me off. :-)
OP? Want to explain so I am not confused? Are you seeking a nanny job or babysitting jobs?
I think OP's rates sound reasonable. I do agree with daria in that many families look for date night sitters who live close by, which I think is in part to avoid paying high cab fares.
As someone who just left Manhattan and employed 2 long-term nannies and a variety of pt sitters over 10 years, I think your numbers are high.
Maybe for 2008 you would get that, but now, I would reduce all numbers by $2 for hourly babysitting or just expect $15/hr set for 1-3 kids unless they are all very young. Cab fare is common, but $10 is low. Cab fare is a pet peeve of mine since so many sitters pocket the money and take the subway. I just did a $20 "late night bonus" after 10pm instead.
For ft nannying, you are usually paid by salary and 85%+ are off the books. Not endorsing it, just the facts. You can google the most recent PSP nanny survey and it is applicable to Manhattan IME. However, there are unusual nannies, and the more educated and qualified nannies tend to be on here so it skews high, who can command higher rates. I have no idea if that is you, but if it is then use an agency. If not, get a former employer to post for you on babybites which IME is the best current source for positions, especially full-time.
I had one year experience nannying but five before that babysitting and nursery volunteering for children younger than two and worked with a family on the UWS for a 5yo girl for $15/hr. I think that $15 is absolutely reasonable.
Also, the cab fare thing again, I have no problems taking the subway (I moved to NYC by myself when I was seventeen and took it all the time alone) so I never received cab fare unless it was offered to me.
My UWS job was while I was living on the LES which was only a 40min commute and my UES job was while I was living in east midtown, an easy 15min by subway/bus. I do know nannies that do pocket cab fare and take the subway, but for me, I never minded taking public transit.
When I moved there at seventeen, I got an after school position with a seven year old boy and was making $12/hr, but then again I was seventeen and just needed a little bit of extra money that I wasn't receiving from my school (I wasn't receiving money from my parents). It was in no way the way I paid my rent.
Thanks everyone! I currently work and will be going back to school, so I am not looking for a full-time nanny position. I did work as a full-time nanny for close to a year after graduating from college, though. I have connections to many families with young children, some who have already expressed interested in needing a occasional babysitter.
As the the cab fare, I realize that $10 will not cover my cab fare, but it will cover some of it, and that seems better than nothing to me.
Thanks for the advice everyone!! :)
Seeareuh:
We all felt invulnerable at 17 and did foolish things. I'm glad nothing happened to you, but please, don't advise women to take the subway alone late at night in NYC!
In the past few weeks the local news has been covering a series of sexual attacks on women walking home from subway stops late at night in Brooklyn and Queens. (In addition to the rash of on subway muggings for iphones resulting in public service announcements to keep your electronics out of sight.)
I don't mean to scare you. The subway is a convenient and speedy way to travel, but use common sense, and night time taxis.
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