Liz is a fourth-generation New Yorker who found her family’s first nanny through a neighborhood parent group. The second nanny, who was living with her parents after the COVID-19 leave, was found through a nanny co-op. Both nannies were immigrants simply because, as Liz said, “the majority of nannies working in Brooklyn are immigrants.”
“When my oldest son was very young, we decided to hire a nanny because he had some pretty severe food allergies and managing his diet required a lot of concerted effort,” she said. Both Liz and her husband work and plan to continue working.
Liz works in child welfare and philanthropy, helping families across the country care for their children. Her husband is a medical researcher who is helping develop the next generation of gene therapies that are already saving lives.
“I like to work. I want to work. I think my job is rewarding,” she said. “I wouldn’t be working if I didn’t have someone who I felt was safe, caring, and worked well with my kids every day.”
Our current nanny, Maria, has been working with the family for four years. She provides daycare for her three children, ages 2 to 6, 42 hours a week. She earns $36 an hour plus overtime, which equates to about $80,000 a year.
That’s certainly a considerable amount of money, and Liz is grateful that she and her husband can afford it. But day care is also expensive, Liz said. Families of three like Liz in New York City pay an average of $69,000 a year in childcare costs.
“The nanny’s work makes all the other work possible. My children completely and completely adore her and are legitimately attached to her children,” said Liz, whose nanny sometimes brings her around. “They are essential, important and contributing members of our society and economy.”
Interactions with nannies, in addition to occasional informal Spanish lessons, give children the opportunity to experience another culture. “We live in a diverse city, and we want our children to know different people from different places and appreciate people from different backgrounds,” Liz said. Families can trust Maria to give their children the personalized attention they need. “My son, who has an anaphylactic allergy, has never had a reaction to Maria. I can’t say the same.”
