- There are more than 1.1 million people in the US who work as childcare workers, but that may be an underestimate, considering that many
nannies work off the books. - Some nannies were furloughed when the coronavirus pandemic hit, but many were suddenly laid off without any severance pay.
- Nannies in the US who are undocumented are especially vulnerable, since they can't seek out unemployment benefits.
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Three weeks after California's stay-at-home order went into effect, Rosalie's boss called her with a proposition. She pleaded with Rosalie to move into her northern California home and resume working as a nanny. Rosalie, who asked to use just her first name to protect her privacy, declined.
Rosalie wanted to stay in her own home with her husband and son, where she felt safe and comfortable amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Prior to the pandemic, Rosalie worked from 6 am to 2 pm five days a week for her employer, helping with the family's two sons, who are seven and two. After the order went into place, the agreement was for Rosalie to stay home and be paid until April 7. As that date neared, the boss' two other nannies quit and she was getting desperate to get Rosalie back.
The employer called again, and offered to increase her pay and benefits.
Rosalie's boss asked her to live in with her son and husband, who had lost his job as a sous chef and was collecting unemployment. The arrangement did not violate California's restrictions.
Rosalie's boss asked her to watch the two boys and clean the home. The employer raised her rate to $30 an hour from $26, which is on par with the average rate in the area. The boss said she would give Rosalie's husband 10 hours of work a week and also offered them a $150 weekly allowance for food.
Rosalie eventually relented.
"Because she wouldn't take 'no' for an answer no matter what reason," Rosalie told Insider, "I said 'yes.'"
But Rosalie said the deal didn't work out the way it was presented.
Rosalie said her husband cooked lunch and dinner daily, which Rosalie and her family were only permitted to eat sometimes, but he wasn't paid for that work. Rosalie said she didn't receive the promised weekly allowance. On top of that, she felt uncomfortable in the home, since her son wasn't permitted to play with the boss' children.
In the US, there are more than 1.1 million childcare workers, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which includes those who work in childcare centers, in their own homes or private households. This could very well be a gross underestimate, considering that many people who do this type of work aren't in the US legally and are paid off the books.
While some nannies receive generous pay and benefits packages from their employers, many don't. The median pay for caregivers last year was $24,230 per year, or $11.65 per hour. The median annual wage for all workers is $39,810.
Both parents and caregivers have been hurled into challenging situations to navigate due to the pandemic.
Many families are continuing to pay their caregivers while they stay home
Daycares and schools are closed, and families have been advised to furlough nannies until it's safe for them to return to work. That's left parents to juggle homeschooling, watching their children, taking care of their homes all while also doing their jobs.
Some parents are continuing to pay their caregivers to stay home and have guaranteed them job security. Some are paying the full, pre-pandemic salary each week, while others have reduced it, for now. Parents who couldn't afford to, or simply didn't want to, have stopped compensating their caregivers. Others have just had to let their nannies go, since they've lost employment.
While organizations exist to advocate for fair pay, benefits, and safe working conditions, the industry has long been without ample oversight. Many caregivers and nannies are not citizens, which means they're more likely to be paid in cash and are vulnerable to their employers' whims. They can't seek much recourse if they're not paid or are mistreated on the job. In the case of the coronavirus, there's not much they can do if they're asked to compromise their safety or personal wellbeing to keep their position.
Nannies often have few protections since many of them are in the US illegally
"Abuse can take place where nannies aren't legal to work in the US, and they don't have the language skills, and are afraid to speak up because of their legal status," said Katie Provinziano, managing director of Westside Nannies, a caregiver agency based in Los Angeles. "If they're living with the employer, they may not have their own home."
About 95% of nannies are not paid legally, according to the International Nanny Association. As a result, many nannies who have lost their jobs or who are unable to work due to the pandemic, are not eligible for unemployment, stimulus checks, expansions of the Family and Medical Leave Act, or other government benefits.
"Many nannies have been forced into the difficult decision of working under unsafe, or in some states, illegal circumstances or losing their jobs entirely," said Shenandoah Davis, chairman of the board of the Nanny Relief Fund, a nonprofit that launched in March to offer support to nannies who are struggling during the pandemic.
Some have continued to commute to work, knowing the risks of infection involved. Others, like Rosalie, have been coaxed into working situations they find unsettling, but can't refuse.
Two weeks after she unpacked her bags at her employer's house, Rosalie told her boss she could no longer live there, but was willing to commute. The boss agreed to that arrangement, but reduced her salary. Rosalie ended up quitting because she said her boss was making impossible demands.
"I wish I hadn't said 'yes' to her from the start," Rosalie said. "We should pay attention to how our employers treat us at this time as it speaks volumes to how much they value us."
Many nanny agencies are only placing caregivers with frontline workers
A number of agencies that match nannies with families are only working with frontline families at this time.
Wendy Sachs, CEO of the Philadelphia Nanny Network, which operates in Philadelphia and New York City, said she is only placing nannies in the homes of doctors, nurses, and other frontline workers in New York City. She said she hasn't had what she termed "luxury requests," which is when parents will seek out a babysitter to fill in for date night or when a parent needs a few hours to run errands.
The agency no longer provides nannies for families in need of just one day of care. The minimum they'll fulfill is five consecutive days.
Nannies are expected to adhere to the CDC guidelines
All nannies and family members are expected to follow the CDC guidelines, Sachs said. Based on an honor code, nannies answer questions about exposure to the coronavirus and are expected to frequently wash their hands and wear masks.
Sachs noted that families are taking some extra precautions.
She said that among the families she works with, many nannies arrive by Uber or Taxi, not public transportation, as a way to protect their employers from exposure. But that mode of commuting still presents risks. Riders can contract the illness from a driver, and if the vehicle isn't properly cleaned, a passenger could potentially catch the disease from an infected surface in the car.
Westside Nannies, which often works with celebrities, focuses on placing nannies with families they can remain with for many years. The company typically recruits nannies with advanced degrees who are able to command high salaries.
For now, like other agencies, the company is only placing nannies with frontline workers, people who are vulnerable, or families who are looking for a caregiver to live in.
Provinziano said she was disappointed to hear stories of nannies being mistreated, saying that employers should continue to pay their nannies through the pandemic, if possible, just as they would do for any other employee.
But she said so many nannies have been laid off that "applications have gone through the roof" for positions with her company.
Many nannies said they were unexpectedly laid off
Nina Hamrani, a nanny who worked for two families in San Francisco, was stunned when she suddenly lost a job when the pandemic hit.
Hamrani was employed by two families, and she spent half the month with each. Both families each have one 2-year-old son, and each paid her $3,000 a month.
She earned $14.50 an hour, a little less than what nannies in the area typically make and slightly less than the state's $15 per hour minimum wage rate.
The parents of one child, who are both tech engineers, texted Hamrani the day California issued the stay-at-home-order to say that she was being laid off. They advised her to apply for unemployment, placing her among the more than 36 million people who have lost their jobs over the past two months. It took her three weeks to get approved, and another week to get her first payment.
Hamrani said this was particularly hurtful, since her employers didn't even pick up the phone to break the news.
"I worked for them for two years and have a bond with their son," Hamrani told Insider.
Hamrani is collecting about $4,200 in unemployment a month, a rate that will continue until the end of July, which will then be reduced to $1,800. Her husband, who lost his job as a security guard, is collecting the same amount of money through his unemployment benefits.
The second family, whom Hamrani had only worked for for six months, sent her $1,000 and has repeatedly texted her offering additional funds.
A month into the stay-at-home order, the tech engineers reached out to Hamrani to return to work, but she declined, citing the fact that neither parent is an essential worker. She's hoping to find a job with another family once the restrictions are lifted.
Nannies who enable frontline workers to do their jobs should be acknowledged, agencies say
While people across the country have been eager to praise frontline workers who are delivering groceries and working in ICUs, caregivers who are enabling essential workers to do their jobs have been largely ignored.
"The nannies are heroes right now and that story is not being told, Provinziano said. "They often get forgotten and they're often unseen."
Mary Aldridge, who works 12 hours a day, four days a week taking care of the children of two essential healthcare workers in Philadelphia, is one of those nannies. Her employers, however, often express their gratitude.
Aldridge earns $930 a week, and she said she feels like she's performing an important service by helping her bosses to do their jobs.
After one of the mother's coronavirus patients recovered, her employer sent a video of the patient in the hospital.
"She was crying as she showed me the video and saying 'thank you for being here because if you weren't here I couldn't do what I do," Aldridge said. "They appreciate me."
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