4 Financial Reasons to Consider Share Care

If you haven't yet heard of Share Care, you're missing out on a popular trend. Share Care is when two families share the cost of a single Nanny. This Nanny cares for the children in one or both of the family’s homes, and the families then split the cost of the Nanny’s salary. Sound good? It is. Not only is share care a great way for children to interact with each other and learn how to get along from a young age, it's a financially viable option for many families who may be unable to afford a private Nanny for their kids.

Read on to discover 4 financial benefits of Share Care. 

1. Salary: With hourly rates for Nannies easily topping $23-25, some families may be unable to pay $900 - $1,000+ per week for 40 hours of childcare, but could probably afford half the Share Care rate of $30-40/hour if they shared a Nanny with another family.
2. Benefits: Most families would love to give their beloved Nanny the benefits she deserves, such as medical and dental insurance, and even make contributions to the Nanny's retirement account. But even if families have the best intentions, other financial obligations can get in the way of Nanny benefits. With Share Care, families can split the cost of these benefits for the Nanny, ensuring that she's well taken care of, yet without a significant burden on either family's bank account.
3. Nanny car: Sometimes parents provide a car for the Nanny to use while taking care of the kids. If you share a Nanny with another family, it could be convenient and cost effective if one of the two families has a Nanny car available. This way, one family would reimburse the other family for half the cost of  gas/wear/tear on the use of their Nanny car at the current government rates. If neither family has a Nanny car, you could split the cost of reimbursing the Nanny for costs incurred on her own vehicle if she uses it during her work hours.
4. Telephone: Another expense parents sometimes forget is a Nanny phone. Whether you provide a cell phone to be used during work hours, or you reimburse your Nanny for calls and texts made on behalf of your family, splitting the cost of a phone bill with another family is just another great reason why you should consider Share Care.

Want to learn more about Share Care?  Attend one of Chirp's workshops at Natural Resources, 1367 Valencia St., San Francisco.  Information and scheduling:  https://www.naturalresources-sf.com

 Photo credit: Travis Swan/flickr

A Question of Values: When Nannies and Parents Differ

Gone are the Mad Men days where a mother’s life revolved around childcare and the home. In today’s society, 67% of children under the age of five are in the care of someone other than their mother for large amounts of their waking hours. This fact of modern life presents new challenges in the arena of instilling values such as independence, kindness and self-control in young children. Now more than ever before, someone other than the child’s parents is given responsibility for imparting personal and cultural values, and this shift could pose challenges when the caregiver’s values differ from those of the parents.

The question of values and who is responsible for teaching them is a vast one, but it’s an issue necessary for nannies and families to visit often. Chirp’s founder Alyce Desrosiers recently addressed this important issue at this year’s International Nanny Association conference in Cancún, Mexico, and shares a summary of her presentation below.

Nannies walk a fine line when teaching values to the children in their care. While some values are universally accepted (i.e. kindness), others can prove to be more conflicting (i.e. independence vs. interdependence). While it’s important for parents and nannies to maintain personal integrity and stay true to personal values, if those values are at odds, there’s a good chance a disagreement between nanny and parents will soon develop. How can nannies and parents retain their personal integrity while imparting the values most important to them?

Good nannies want to care for their ‘charges’ according to the parent’s values. That is why it’s important nannies keep an open dialogue with the parents and discuss the following points.

• Make sure you clearly understand your own personal values and recognize the ways in which you teach those to young children.
• Have a conversation with the parents. It’s important to know what values are the most important to them as you work to help raise their child according to those principles.
• Identify similarities and differences in values and how they are taught during the everyday routines of caring for the children.

Working through differences and coming to a compromise that both nannies and parents can feel good about is vital. After all, what good is it to teach children about what is important in the world if you don’t lead by example?

Photo Credit: Travis Swan/Flickr