Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Nanny and Au Pair Housekeeping Poll

What Housekeeping Duties Would You Be Willing To Do if You Were Paid Extra Money?

Of the 778 nannies and au pairs that took our poll about what extra housekeeping they would be willing to do if paid extra money:

599 (77%) would be willing to grocery shop, make a food inventory, and put groceries away
475 (61%) would be willing to rotate the children’s seasonal clothes if compensated extra for the task
467 (60%) would wash, fold, and put away the entire family’s laundry including the parents
459 (59%) would be willing to unload and load the dishwasher
436 (56%) would be willing to add sweeping, vacuuming, and mopping the entire house as need if offered more money
436 (56%) would be willing to change the sheets and bedding of the entire family
428 (55%) would make the children’s beds daily
428 (55%) would clean and sterilize baby pacifiers, bottles, and toys as needed
428 (55%) would wash, fold, and put the children’s laundry away
428 (55%) would be willing to dust if paid more money
420 (54%), would be willing to clean and sanitize toys
420 (54%) would be willing to empty the household trash
405 (52%) would be willing to cook dinner for the entire family
405 (52%) would be willing to clean or wipe counters after meals and crafts
405 (52%) would wipe-up messes in children’s bathrooms and pick-up children’s towels
405 (52%) would change the sheets and bedding of the entire family including the parents
405 (52%) would make the entire family’s beds including the parents
405 (52%) would be willing to clean or wipe counters after meals and crafts
405 (52%) would wipe-up messes in children’s bathrooms and pick-up children’s towels
405 (52%) would change the sheets and bedding of the entire family including the parents
405 (52%) would make the entire family’s beds including the parents
373 (48%) would be willing to iron the children’s clothing
358 (46%) would be willing to iron the entire family’s clothing including the parents’
350 (45%) would add cleaning bathrooms to their duties if offered more money
335 (43%) would be willing to be the primary housekeeper along with their childcare duties if paid extra for more responsibilities

Some participants answered they would not do extra chores around the home for any raise or more money.

Tomorrow: What Household Duties Do You Feel Are Not a Nanny’s Responsibility?

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

No extra money would get me to clean more than I already do. I have no interest in cleaning. My interest is in caring for children. I do enough cleaning all day long following the kids around.

Anonymous said...

I open to helping to maintain the household- as long as I don't feel taken advantage of.

If the family follows the motto: "I leave it clean for you/ you leave it clean for me"
-there should never be a problem.

Families need to realize while their home is their "home" - it is also the work place of the nanny. And it does not start the day off in a pleasant manner for the nanny to walk into a mess. (How would the parents feel if they left their work space neat and tidy and their boss(es) came in after and created a mess- and they had to spend hours putting it all back together again, just so they could start their work day in a clean/organized environment?)

I never feel it is a nanny's duty to scrub the shower, toliets or oven. If the familiy requires "deep cleaning"- which I classify as "scubbing"- they need to have a housecleaner come at least once per month or work it into their household chores.

I am open to feeding and letting the pets out during the day, however if they need someone to clean up after the pets-(dog/cat box) I feel that is the families resposiblity and over steps the boundaries I set as a nanny which is to fully care for the children and the home during my working hours.

~Andrea / Professional Career Nanny, Northern, NJ

Anonymous said...

It just seems like some nannies are stuck-up and look down on cleaning service workers. I hear "I am not a cleaning lady. I would never iron. I don't clean toilets!" Fine, but you change dirty diapers, clean up "spit up", wash dishes, and wipe runny noses...but god forbid you get your hand dirty helping out the family in another way. Both cleaning ladies and nannies are service industry domestic workers. We serve the families we work for. We are not considered glamorous and in these economic times we ought to be willing to get our hands dirty.
Kelly-Anne, Raleigh NC