Workers of the World Unite

Recently, this article was in the Washington Post. Nannies on a Quest for Rights - washingtonpost.com It highlights nannies who are searching for a decent living wage and benefits. This illustrates the diversity in our profession. In this same area of D.C. many "career" nannies are making $100,000 or more a year. I have such mixed feelings about this. On one hand, there are many nannies I know taking care of kids who work so hard for peanuts. They have no rights in our unregulated industry and because nannies are often nurturers instead of negotiators they are taken advantage of. On the other hand, I have seen nannies who are really not great caregivers get grossly inflated salaries because the demand for a certain type of nanny is high. And the sad but true thing is - that if you are white and speak English it is much easier to get a decent living wage. Does that make you a better caregiver? I don't think so. I dream of a day when our credential is up and running and there are some tangibles in our profession. Of course this does not mean that parents will pay on the books or stop looking for a "cheaper" nanny who will also clean the house.