I am so frustrated with child care!

[dakcp2001]

I've read through all the replys and I'm somewhat surprised that so many think the wage was so low. I have worked at a daycare center fo over 10 years, and I make less than ten dollars an hour. I am responsibe for 4 children and have to scrub floors, dust, wash toys, take out the garbage,vaccuum,and sanitize all surfaces on a daily basis. I don't think the parents of my children have any idea what the care givers are paid. This is just another perspective. Oh, and this is before taxes.

What is minimum wage where you live?

 

[dazedx3]

Min. wage here is $7.25 an hour. I live in a town of about 30,000 and this is one of the best centers in our town.

 

[dakcp2001]

Min. wage here is $7.25 an hour. I live in a town of about 30,000 and this is one of the best centers in our town.

Do you make 7.25 an hour?

 

[dazedx3]

No, I make just under $10.00 an hour, but I've been there 11 years. We also have to pay for 25 hours of continuing education a year, and a $40 reg. fee per year.

 

[hereyago]

I've read through all the replys and I'm somewhat surprised that so many think the wage was so low. I have worked at a daycare center fo over 10 years, and I make less than ten dollars an hour. I am responsibe for 4 children and have to scrub floors, dust, wash toys, take out the garbage,vaccuum,and sanitize all surfaces on a daily basis. I don't think the parents of my children have any idea what the care givers are paid. This is just another perspective. Oh, and this is before taxes.

But the thing is: you know the day care is going to take most of the tuition and pay you jack. and you know with a licensed day care, YOU have to do all that cleaning every day due to health codes,etc. The only way really you will make decent money is to either be the owner/director of the child care center.

but with an individual doing the babysitting herself no "middle man" sort of speak, minimum wage is too low.

 

[luvsJack]

The OP cannot expect to pay the same for an in-home caregivers as caregivers are paid in a center. Its two different things.

 

[ccgirl]

Sorry, haven't read all of the posts. My two children 8,3 behave very well and almost never fight. I am talking maybe twice a month. They are very well mannered. And, I pay $10 an hour for babysitting. Most of the time my 3 year old is asleep during that time. He is very easy to put to sleep and stays asleep. Usually when I get home, the dishes are still in the sink and the toys are still out. But, I get what I pay for. A friend of mine has someone come in her house after school, college age, and she pays $12 an hour and no house cleaning is expected. She has a house cleaner for that , that she pays $20 an hour too. Why people pay more to someone to clean their house than care for their most precious possession, their children, I have no idea. But, I digress.

You may have already said this but did you expect her to use her own vehicle and her own gas to get the children where they need to be?

You really do get what you pay for. Good luck.

 

[dakcp2001]

No, I make just under $10.00 an hour, but I've been there 11 years. We also have to pay for 25 hours of continuing education a year, and a $40 reg. fee per year.

She was making the equivelent of 7.25 an hour where you live. To watch children that are described as difficult and do housekeeping. And she was a private nanny, which costs a lot more than daycare with other children. She was underpaid. I am not saying you aren't as well, but you seem to be missing the point here.

 

[ccgirl]

Min. wage here is $7.25 an hour. I live in a town of about 30,000 and this is one of the best centers in our town.

Comparing apples to oranges here. The best daycare center in my town is $45 a day (for a 10 hour day) for ages 2.5 and up. In my DD's "class" they had roughly 15 children and 2.5 "caregivers". Multiply the $45 x15 and they were getting $675 a day or $67.50 an hour. No idea how much of that $67.50 an hour the caregivers were getting.

Getting someone to come into your home and provide more individualized care to your children just costs more.

 

[Feckless]

Sorry, haven't read all of the posts. My two children 8,3 behave very well and almost never fight. I am talking maybe twice a month. They are very well mannered. And, I pay $10 an hour for babysitting. Most of the time my 3 year old is asleep during that time. He is very easy to put to sleep and stays asleep. Usually when I get home, the dishes are still in the sink and the toys are still out. But, I get what I pay for. A friend of mine has someone come in her house after school, college age, and she pays $12 an hour and no house cleaning is expected. She has a house cleaner for that , that she pays $20 an hour too. Why people pay more to someone to clean their house than care for their most precious possession, their children, I have no idea. But, I digress.

You may have already said this but did you expect her to use her own vehicle and her own gas to get the children where they need to be?

You really do get what you pay for. Good luck.

I have a house cleaner as well. I would not expect a sitter coming for a couple of hours to clean. Light housekeeping (by which I meant that she would tidy up a bit, and empty the dishwasher (no dishes from the night before and the house was tidy when she got there). No laundry. I did give her a list of things she could do if she had time. I only did that AFTER my daughter said that she was sitting around all day, not getting off the couch (an exaggeration I'm sure!)

I did not expect her to have any out of pocket expenses to care for the kids. She has a bus pass anyway, I bought one for the kids, and would pay her admission and expenses along with the kids' expenses if they went anywhere.

Thanks for posting.

 

[mjkacmom]

Min. wage here is $7.25 an hour. I live in a town of about 30,000 and this is one of the best centers in our town.

Private sitters make more than daycare workers, always have. You pay a premium for someone to come to YOUR house, and focus only on YOUR kids.

 

[tlbwriter]

I have a house cleaner as well. I would not expect a sitter coming for a couple of hours to clean. Light housekeeping (by which I meant that she would tidy up a bit, and empty the dishwasher (no dishes from the night before and the house was tidy when she got there).

Honestly, I consider emptying the dishwasher more than "light housekeeping." Perhaps because I dislike it so much. To me, "light housekeeping" is really little more than cleaning up after myself and the kids during the day. Anybody else, or is it just me?

 

[Feckless]

Daycare workers are amazing. We have had some fantastic people look after our children over the years. As I've said, good childcare workers will NEVER be paid what they are worth - they do it because they love kids... Hardest job in the world.

Again, I repeat that I was not trying to shortchange the sitter or take advantage. I was paying a competitive wage for what I was expecting in our region, especially for someone who doesn't have an early childhood education diploma. Most people pay less than minimum wage for at home child care - home child care is exempt from minimum wage requirements in our jurisdiction. When my kids were in fulltime daycare (a while ago - prices have since gone up) we paid $125 every two weeks, per child, which was at the time one of the most expensive places in town.

 

[dazedx3]

I totally agree, it is two different things, I was simply pointing out that I don't think a lot of people realize that when they pay $200+ a week for care that the caregivers might only be making minimum wage. And I agree that noone is in this job, expecting to become rich.

 

[JoshAndEvsMom]

I was wondering if maybe it turned out not to be stomach flu and instead she is pregnant. Exhaustion and throwing up are hard enough to deal with without fighting kids and one who is a handful. I was thinking perhaps she found out the way she was feeling was likely to hang around for another month or two and she is not up to feeling that and keeping up with the kids/house/dog for the rest of the summer. Funny all of the silly details your mind will fill in when you do not have a real story to work with

I thought the same thing!! DH had a college student work for him as a coach. She was always skipping practices because she was "sick" then she up and quits! Turns out she was preggers and too embarassed to say anything. Too bad because he probably could have helped her out.

On the original topic... Regardless of the "fairness" of the pay or expectations, op says she made herself painfully clear and this girl still accepted the position. The problem isnt with op's expectations or the pay and definitely not her kids. (If you're a nanny and YOU expect perfect angels, I'd say look for another career!) The only "problem" I see is that op didnt vet this girl properly. Next time I'd get references and do a trial period at the very least. I'd snoop her facebook page and maybe even try to meet her parents... If I could do that without looking too paranoid!

 

[Feckless]

And on the positive side, because of all my posts, I'm now a Mousekateer!!!

 

[disneyjunkie]

But the thing is: you know the day care is going to take most of the tuition and pay you jack. and you know with a licensed day care, YOU have to do all that cleaning every day due to health codes,etc. The only way really you will make decent money is to either be the owner/director of the child care center.

That depends on where you live. Day care teachers in NYC city funded centers make a decent salary (not great) and have excellent benefits. (401K, pension, free family health care, free family dental, 30 vacation days each year...) The salary isn’t as good as public school teachers, even though they are required to have the same level of education and a teaching license. However, the day care union isn't as strong as the public school union.

The classroom staff (teachers, assistants and aides) does not clean. They have janitors and housekeepers who clean the classes and the kid’s bathrooms.

I know this isn’t the norm across the country.

 

[Pigeon]

For minimum wage, I'd quit that job, too.

It would be much easier to do checkout at Target or the grocery store for slightly better pay.