Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

SURVEY: What Are Best Practices When Hiring a Nanny in Lower Manhattan?

By Irene Plagianos | March 25, 2016 2:11pm | Updated on March 28, 2016 8:50am
 We're asking families to fill out our survey to get a better picture of how parents are compensating their nannies.
We're asking families to fill out our survey to get a better picture of how parents are compensating their nannies.
View Full Caption
Shutterstock/Ocskay Bence

LOWER MANHATTAN — Denise Courter says she considers herself lucky when it comes to one of the potentially trickier aspects of childcare — finding a nanny.

"I found our nanny through a conversation in the hallway of my building — another mom wasn't interested because she thought, at 26, she was too young," Courter said. "But she has such a great energy and asked really good questions — she was our nanny for seven years, and that other mom I mentioned has gone through many nannies over the years."

Courter, who lives in the Financial District and now runs a popular website dedicated to all things family activity-related in Lower Manhattan called FiDi Families, says referrals really seem to be the basis for finding a person to care for your kids.

Lower Manhattan parents also have a longstanding resource called Hudson River Park (HRP) Mamas — a group that requires a $55 yearly membership, but provides access to a number of mom message boards, informal nanny referrals and other parenting support.

The network's director Anna Grossman said it has yearly workshops for parents about how to hire a great nanny, as well as what one needs to know when becoming the employer of a nanny — namely the legal issues of essentially becoming someone's boss.

The workshops are run by Susan Fox, the founder of another active parent group, Park Slope Parents.

Lower Manhattan parents say that the going rate for nannies is about $650 to $900 a week— but there's a lot of caveats to that salary.

"You know, there are a lot of differences — we paid our nanny $700 a week, but would give her a Christmas bonus that was upwards of $1,500 and do things like pay for her dinner or car service if it gets late," Courter said. "Other people just pay the salary and that's it — or do things like give a $1,000 handbag for a present."

To track neighborhood trends on how local parents handle nanny pay, benefits, and general issues related to child care, DNAinfo New York has put together a completely anonymous survey.

We're asking Lower Manhattan parents who've had a nanny or currently employ one to fill out our survey so that we can report back on the findings.

And while we'd love for participants to fill out the entire survey, you can choose to answer as many questions as you like.