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jab
Citizen
Username: Jab
Post Number: 567
Registered: 3-2003
| | Posted on Friday, June 2, 2006 - 10:57 pm: | 
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We do not have children, so this is a purely theorhetical question on our end, but what do nannies do for healthcare? This question came up recently when somebody mentioned that his nanny's church was assisting with the nanny's medical expenses and now we are wondering. We asked a couple people if their nannies had health insurance and they sort of shrugged and said they had never asked. Are people concerned about healthcare for nannies? |
Jersey_Boy
Citizen
Username: Jersey_boy
Post Number: 962
Registered: 1-2006
| | Posted on Friday, June 2, 2006 - 11:30 pm: |
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Most au pair services come with emergency coverage. Just, no check ups.
Classified Ad Nannies, I would think are working "off the books." This would mean health care is negotiated which means probably neither asked for nor offered.
Nannies are a part of The Great American Uninsured. In an emergency, the system just eats it, which is why it costs you, with health insurance, $300 to just walk into the E.R.
Nannies are toughing it out with waitresses, landscapers, and legions of others who work without insurance. Usually, when you get to a certain age, you start to pay attention to whether or not you're insured. Young nannies aren't worried about it. Older ones have something worked out, I hope.
J.B. |
susan1014
Supporter
Username: Susan1014
Post Number: 1598
Registered: 3-2002
| | Posted on Saturday, June 3, 2006 - 10:14 pm: |
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Even "on the books" nannies don't have health care unless it is added on as an element of the pay package. Much as many nannies would love to have health care, few can afford to have it instead of pay.
I know a number of people who have ended up helping long term nannies with medical or immigration emergencies (often in lieu of the next raise...)
Our health system is definitely one of haves and have-nots, but I'm not going to debate that here! |
shoshannah
Citizen
Username: Shoshannah
Post Number: 1275
Registered: 7-2002
| | Posted on Monday, June 5, 2006 - 8:54 pm: |
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I know a lot of nannies who go back to their home countries for medical procedures. It's apparently cheaper to fly home and have the procedure done there than to pay out of pocket here. |
Jersey_Boy
Citizen
Username: Jersey_boy
Post Number: 981
Registered: 1-2006
| | Posted on Monday, June 5, 2006 - 9:50 pm: |
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Yeah, if their home country has socialized medicine, of course.
J.B. |
Lou
Citizen
Username: Flf
Post Number: 169
Registered: 8-2005
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 6, 2006 - 10:12 am: |
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This is one of the reasons I don't understand why are their salaries today the same as they were 8 years ago.
Before and while going to school I used to babysit for $10/hour (the standard salary of those days in NYC - about 8 years ago), I find it surprising when people mention here that they are still paying that nowadays. When most of everyone else (specially the people that have babysitters and nannnies) have had significant increases to their salaries on the past 8 years, why don't nannies' and babysitters' do too?
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Handygirl
Citizen
Username: Handygirl
Post Number: 715
Registered: 2-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, June 7, 2006 - 10:12 am: |
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I think that, by and large, people pay what they can afford. There seem to be plenty of nannies looking for work and most people can't really afford more than $2000-2500 per month for child care, so there it is: supply and demand. Until child care is subsidized somehow, or the demand outweighs the supply, there probably won't be any significant raises in nanny pay. |
shoshannah
Citizen
Username: Shoshannah
Post Number: 1279
Registered: 7-2002
| | Posted on Wednesday, June 7, 2006 - 10:19 am: |
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JB: Even if they don't have socialized medicine, it is still cheaper in their home countries.
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susan1014
Supporter
Username: Susan1014
Post Number: 1603
Registered: 3-2002
| | Posted on Wednesday, June 7, 2006 - 11:51 am: |
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My nanny has had 6 years of pay raises (and of tax withholding, Social Security payments, etc)...but if she left and we hired someone else, I wouldn't necessarily start at the same salary that I'm paying now.
I think that the churn keeps the pay rates down, as does the illegal/under-the-table status of many of the arrangements. No doubt I could save money by paying under-the-table, hiring someone undocumented, and changing nannies every couple of years rather than giving raises. I'm thrilled to be in a position to not have to, but no doubt my nanny is my biggest luxury in life!
(and by the way Lou, not all of us have had "significant increases to our salaries" of the sort that you describe -- my nanny's pay increases have been better than mine for the past 5 years) |
Jersey_Boy
Citizen
Username: Jersey_boy
Post Number: 999
Registered: 1-2006
| | Posted on Wednesday, June 7, 2006 - 1:59 pm: |
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shoshannah,
"Even if they don't have socialized medicine, it is still cheaper in their home countries."
Because the doctors don't have/need malpractice insurance.
J.B. |
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