Anita Rogers quoted in Insider article:
As more parents return to work, families have to make touch choices about childcare.
After months of balancing jobs and childcare — without school, daycare or private caregivers — parents across the US are now making tough childcare choices as cities reopen. Employed parents need childcare in order to work, but bringing a nanny into the home also means bringing in additional exposure to the coronavirus.
That’s why some parents are taking extra precautionary measures, which may mean paying a premium rate. Some families are looking to hire nannies who have already had the disease, but it’s not a guarantee of higher pay, said Anita Rogers, CEO and founder of British American Household Staffing, an agency that places caregivers in both the UK and the US. Hiring someone who tests positive is by no means a foolproof plan either, since it’s still unknown whether people who have recovered from COVID- 19 can get reinfected.
Other families are having nannies who test negative move in with them and aren’t allowing them to leave until there is a vaccine, Rogers said. For that, nannies may be able to command higher salaries.
“This kind of intense time away from home has sparked requests for a higher compensation from the nannies,” Rogers said.
Some families are requiring frequent testing to ensure that the caregiver is and remains healthy, an extra measure some caregivers can charge more for, said Katie Provinziano, managing director of Westside Nannies — a Los Angeles childcare agency. Provinziano said that nannies who are willing to get tested frequently can get about 10% more than the average rate. On average, nannies in Los Angeles make between $25 and $35 an hour, she said.