Would having more men in the occupation make being a nanny a more prestigious and better paying occupation?
In our discussions about domestic workers rights many nannies have commented on this blog that nannies and other domestic workers are among the poorest and most mistreated workers in the nation.
Historically, there has been a pecking order of hiring according to gender. Society judges what jobs are suitable for men and for women.
Through the years, the best paying and the most prestigious jobs have gone to white males. The poorest jobs, in terms of pay and of prestige, have been delegated to females and the most menial jobs going to minority women. It may not be intentional, but the structure of unmerited advantage still exists.
According to the International Labour Organization everywhere in the world, regardless of the degree of socio-economic development, the vast majority of domestic workers are women: 90 to 92 percent of the domestic work force comprises of women and girls.
Our question to you: Would having more men in the occupation make being a nanny more prestigious and better paying?
I have known a few male au pairs. They are all great, were fantastic caregivers. I don't think they made more than other au pairs (don't American's hire au pairs to save money over nannies)? I felt the men complained a whole lot less though!
ReplyDeleteI suppose the same could be asked of the teaching profession, both ECE, elementary, and high school. A field that is pretty much populated by women.
ReplyDeleteYep and nurses!
ReplyDeleteOr should the question be "Would more men work as nannies if they could make more money at it?" Maybe domestics aren't paid well because it's women's work or maybe more men don't work as domestics because it doesn't pay well or have respect.
ReplyDeleteMore likely it's still not more respected because it's seen as women's work.
Good point. I think we should take some woman's studies classes to help figure this out. I think that people don't respect people that do work they don't want to do themselves. A lot of my employer's friends don't look me in the eye or talk to me, they feel embarrassed or ashamed to see me cleaning when they visit. But, most of my employer's friends are kind and respectful of me. The people that don't say "hi" to the garbage man are the same ones not saying "hi" to us. They will never want any of us to make more money or care about our lives.
ReplyDeleteI've seen a lot of REVERSE discrimination in this field. A lot of parents won't hire a male nanny in fear of sexual abuse. So frustrating men aren't all sexual preditors at all!
ReplyDeleteI agree Steph 6 a lot of parents are skeptical about hiring male nannies. It's hard to figure out all the reasons why domestic workers aren't respected but being mostly women probably is part of the reason too. It's might not be obvious, but deep down in our subconscious. (? spelling need spell check LOL).
ReplyDeleteOMG too complicated a concept for us uneducated nannies to consider (Just kidding that's what people seem to be saying when they don't support our workers rights bill). Yep men make more at the same jobs so I'm sure we would benefit for men in the field.
ReplyDeleteMen don't want to do this job.
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