The Benefits of Employing a Nanny For Parents
Part 1: For Working Parents
For so many parents, finding that sweet spot with work, life and childcare is an on-going challenge. We’re here to talk about why nannies are emerging as the solution.
Discover the benefits employing a nanny can have on your work/life balance in the first of our two part blog series.
5 Benefits of Employing a Nanny for Working Parents:
1. Nannies work Bespoke Childcare Hours
A nanny’s working days and hours are set by you as the employer, making nannies the most flexible form of childcare. Overtime is another option unique to a nanny if an unexpected commitment arises or if your child is unwell and needs to remain home.
When parents cannot find the childcare hours they require, it can restrict their job opportunities and limit the options they have for arranging work and family life. This is where the benefits of a nanny are pertinent as parents have control over the hours they require their childcare. This is something unique to a nanny compared to nurseries and childminders who operate on their own set hours and will close for the holidays.
Parents with Atypical Working Patterns
Having this flexibility with childcare is particularly valuable for parents working atypical hours or jobs that include overtime, weekend working, travel or on-call working. The same benefits apply to freelance workers or shift workers with unpredictable schedules and those with projects or businesses they run alongside their primary job. Having a nanny can prevent parents from having to cut back on the hours they work, or turn to strategies such as ‘shift parenting’ where parents work at different times and share care between them.
School Routines
As part of their duties a nanny can do the school drop off and/or pick up. They will also come straight to your house which is a great convenience so you can focus on getting ready to leave for work. Plus if you incorporate your nanny’s hours into school holidays you no longer need to rely on saving up annual leave or taking unpaid leave during these times of the year.
Overtime is an Option
As the employer of your nanny, you have the option to request overtime if your nanny is available. For example if you have a sudden work commitment that doesn’t fit in with your nanny’s contracted hours, you can ask if your nanny is able to work these additional hours as overtime.
Another common scenario where nanny overtime is key is if your child is poorly and needs to spend the day at home instead of attending school or nursery. For chicken pox, or other bugs that are particularly contagious in children, this can be a lengthy period where nurseries or childminders can’t accept the children into their setting. With a nanny, you can feel at ease knowing a personal childcare professional your child is familiar with, is there to care for them in the comfort of their home.
2. Nannies offer unique and specialist skills
When you look for a nanny you have the choice in exactly who cares for your child; their experience, qualifications and skills.
Some parents will look for a nanny with a particular set of skills or a certain qualification. For example Norland Qualified Nannies are a popular option (benefits of a Norland Nanny). Other parents employ a nanny with qualified teacher status in Primary school curriculum to support their children with school work. There are also scenarios where parents require a bi-lingual nanny to support their child with a second language.
It’s also becoming more common for parents to employ male nannies (aka mannies). Staffing at Tiffanie’s cite various benefits of employing a manny such as having a male role model, incorporating more heavy lifting projects such as tree house building and having exposure to coach training and sports.
Specialist care is also an option when choosing your nanny. SEN (Special Educational Needs) nannies have the resources for children who need extra support related to disabilities or additional learning needs. Whilst maternity nannies work with new parents when they first bring their baby home; helping implement routines and advising on new-born care to aid the mother’s rest and recovery.
A nanny agency can support you with finding a nanny with the experience, qualification or skills you may require.
3. Nannies & Parents can form a Great Partnership
Nannies can work alongside you to bring up your children how you wish in line with best practice and standards. They can accommodate a mixture of learning methods and provide frequent and detailed reports on your child’s day and learning activities.
A nanny can align with your parenting style, house rules and discipline techniques whilst offering their nanny wisdom and experience along the way. Nannies can also provide detailed updates on your child as they will have spent consistent one-to-one time with them. It’s up to you how you want this to work, for example, it can be informal check-ins with your nanny at transition times such as morning/ evening or you can ask that your nanny keeps a more formal log that you can access.
A nanny can also accommodate a mixture of learning methods. For example, your nanny can implement elements of Montessori education which places emphasis on hands-on learning and independence. However you may not want to limit your child to Montessori-only activities that a Montessori nursery might.
You may also want your nanny to incorporate elements of your family’s lifestyle, perhaps you want your children to have lots of outdoor play and activities such as bike riding and gardening. You may want your child to avoid certain foods when it comes to their diet and nutrition. If these things are important to you, a nanny is a great option.
Many parents and their children go on to build strong bonds with their nanny who becomes like an extended family member. Some nannies will even accompany their family on holidays – read more about taking a nanny on holiday.
4. Nannies can actually be Cost-Effective
Nannies are considered one of the more expensive childcare options. However, when you tally up nursery fees which operate on a set price per child, nannies can be a more cost-effective option for families with more than one child. Nanny shares can provide further financial advantages. Additionally, Ofsted nannies can accept payment through Tax-Free Childcare (if parents meet eligibility criteria).
A nanny is considered one of the most expensive childcare options. However, the cost-saving benefits of a nanny become apparent if you have more than one child. A nanny charges by the hour and the cost does not go up (or only rises a little) for additional children. This means the cost for a full-time nursery place per child can actually end up more expensive for families with 2-3 children or more.
Nanny shares provide further financial benefits as you can split the costs with another family. Nanny sharing also means that your child can receive more personalised care without missing out on the social benefits of a childminding or nursery setting. On top of this you may feel more reassured knowing that your nanny is being used by another family that you know.
Nannies can also be Ofsted registered, enabling them to accept payment through the tax free childcare system. Tax-Free Childcare is a government financial support scheme used by many of our Nannytax customers. For parents who earn less than £100k collectively and have children under 12 (under 17 if disabled) the government will pay up to £2000 per child per year towards their nanny childcare costs.
5. Nannies can give you maximised quality time with your children
A nanny can lighten the parenting load giving you maximised quality time with your family when you are not working.
When you employ a nanny as your childcare provider it’s common to negotiate additional duties such as light house-keeping, meal prep and even homework support (all should be outlined in the contract of employment). This can really help lift the parenting load when it comes to menial, time-consuming tasks that can prevent you from having one-to-one time with your child when you’re home from work.
For example, returning from a long day’s work a nanny could have your house in shape, your children clean and fed, packed lunches in the fridge and school uniforms clean for the next morning. This means you have maximised quality time to spend with your children before bedtime or at the weekends.
As the nanny will be in the family home, you have more opportunity to spend time with your child if your schedule allows. For example there might be an occasion where you may briefly come home for lunch or a break and be able to spend some time with your child. However in a nursery or child minding setting this isn’t so straight forward.
Everything you need as a Nanny Employer
Looking to employ a nanny but anxious about how to pay your taxes and check your legal obligations?
That’s where Nannytax can help.
Our award-winning nanny payroll service includes weekly/ monthly payslips, a free contract of employment and unlimited HR support. You’ll also have an online Employer Members Area to make accessing payslips and logging records such as holiday and overtime, convenient and hassle free. To support your nanny, they’ll have their own Nanny Members Area which offers easy access to their payslips and much more.
Our optional service add-ons include Nannytax Plus (if you want us to make the monthly salary/ HMRC payments for you), Nanny Employers Liability Insurance and our fully managed Nanny Pensions service.
Looking to speak to someone?
Speak to a friendly member of our team today 020 3137 4401 – we’re open 7 days a week!
