Tuesday, March 24, 2015

A Cautionary Response to the Care.com Babysitter Wages Survey

Flaws in the newly released care.com babysitter wages survey.

Making waves today are the newly released results of a care.com survey on babysitting wages. However, there are several reasons why these results should only be taken as a very loose, somewhat inaccurate guideline with regard to what a babysitter or nanny should be paid. On behalf of the Michigan Professional Nanny Association, we offer parents and caregivers the following critique and advice:

First and foremost is the sample size. 1000 families nationwide cannot provide a substantial enough sampling to accurately reflect wages in individual cities. Even though care.com claims to use internal data, there is no revealing of how that data was collected. Considering that families are not required to report back to the site what they pay the caregivers they hire, and that a family can enter a range of pay rather than an exact amount, it begs the question as to how, exactly, the site was able to use this internal data to accurately assess what caregivers are actually being paid.

Second, a national average is simply that. A national average. Like housing prices, there is a great range from coast to coast on sitter wages, even within each metropolitan market. In the metro Detroit area, wages vary greatly even within a single suburb. Parents and caregivers are wise to realize that the average rate may not be anywhere close to the actual going rate in their locale. You wouldn't take the national average for the cost of a house and insist on paying that, and only that, on any house that catches your eye, would you? Neither should these average wages be taken as what a sitter MUST be paid, regardless of any other factors.

Third, there is no information on whether or not the survey made any distinction between babysitter and nanny.  The infographic gives no definition for what consititutes a babysitter vs. a nanny, although there is a brief mention further down in the article that the two are different.  The article gives false information in stating that the law requires all babysitters be paid at least minimum wage.  In fact, the article they link to for this, of their own publishing, even contradicts that point.  According to the IRS, a babysitter, an occasional as needed caregiver in the child’s home, is not subject to minimum wage laws. A nanny, that is, a regularly schedule caregiver in the child’s home, is a non-exempt employee. Under federal law, a nanny, as a non-exempt employee, must be paid for every hour worked, at or above minimum wage, with overtime in accordance with state law. Yet, the infographic offered claims that all babysitters are subject to minimum wage laws. This can be confusing for parents, especially those who might hire younger, inexperienced minors as occasional babysitters in markets where the going rate is far lower than what the study states. Nannies, in general, make several dollars more per hour on average than babysitters. In fact, the International Nanny Association recently released the results of their 2014 wage and benefits survey which showed that nannies in the U.S. make, on average, $18.66/hour.  (for information on Michigan nanny wages, please see our article here.)

Fourth, there seems to be little to no accounting in the infographic or published results for the wide variance in age, training, and experience of caregivers. To put it frankly: What you plan to pay the high school student from down the street to babysit your children is not what you should plan to pay the babysitter with 10, 15, 20 years experience in childcare who may also be a teacher, professional nanny, or early childhood educator. If care were to separate out wages by the experience and education of caregivers, they would find what the INA found: The more experience and education a caregiver has, the higher the wage. Several other factors also affect what constitutes an appropriate wage for a sitter, including location, number of children, extra tasks involved, the length of time, additional required qualifications, and more.  While the article states these things should be taken into consideration, there's no breakdown of the actual numbers on how these factors affected survey results.

The overall response among the national nanny community, from those who babysit, is that the results of the survey are lower than what most professional caregivers are making. This survey absolutely should not be used as the rule of thumb for figuring nanny wages, which are typically several dollars higher per hour as a base rate. So, how is a parent to know what a fair, going rate is for a sitter in their area if this survey isn’t the be all end all final answer?

Check with your neighbors, or at least people within your own zip code. When you ask what they are paying their sitters, be sure to clarify that it is an occasional sitter who comes to their home, whether it is a teen, a college student, or another adult. Ask how much experience/training that sitter has. The reason for the extra questions is simple: What is fair for a teenager is not necessarily fair for a 32 year old nanny who picks up babysitting on the side. Their experience level, training, and judgment level are different. In the metro Detroit area, date night babysitters are making anywhere from $5/hour (high school students, lower income neighborhoods) to $25/hour or more (highly experienced caregivers, higher income neighborhoods).
 
Check with the sitters, to see what they are paid and what they will charge. Be fair…if your neighbor has one 8 year old, and you have twin infants with a toddler and a preschooler, expect to pay the sitter more than your neighbor does.

And if the going rates for date night sitters are too high for your budget, or simply too high for your liking? Consider swapping care with another family for date nights, hiring a less experienced sitter, or sharing a sitter with friends for an evening. Typcially, in a sitter sharing situation, each family will pay the sitter 2/3 to ¾ of what the sitter normally charges, lowering the amount a parent pays but increasing the overall amount the sitter earns. Thus, a deal for the parents *and* a win for the sitter.