Parents Want 'Mary Boffins' to Bring up their Baby Einsteins
British people spend more than £3 billion a year on ‘super-nannies’,Move over Mary Poppins - the role of a professional nanny is changing fast, with ambitious
parents now looking for exceptionally talented ‘super-nannies’ who can fill the role of third parent, language and music teacher, nurse and personal chef to their kids. A survey reveals that busy parents are paying over the odds and offering expensive perks to entice nanny-extraordinaires to work 12 hours a day to cater to their children’s every available need, and give them an out-of-hours education while they’re at it.
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An amazing 45% of parents admit that they hire ‘super nannies’ to act as a surrogate parent and teacher, while they get more time to spend at work and progress their career. The modern-day Mary Poppins is likely to be a university honours graduate who can speak a foreign language, play the piano, perform first-aid, teach and cook!
These ‘super-nannies’ come at a hefty cost, with over 10% of parents paying out over £500 a week on their nanny. Coming in at £26,000 a year*, the cost of a ‘super-nanny’ is now considered quite a lucrative career option, with an annual salary well above the average national wage.
The research found that on average parents are spending £305 per week on their nanny. With 200,000 nannies working in the UK, that brings the UK spend on nannies to over £3 billion.
The research by gumtree.com revealed parent’s essential ‘super-nanny’ skills requirements:
1. A second language (65%).  Spanish, French and German are the most popular
language skills sought by parents on Gumtree.com
2. Ability to perform CPR and carry out first aid (62%)
3. Artistic flair – ability to teach creative drawing and art (58%)
4. A professional childminding qualification (56%)
5. A strong disciplinarian (50%)
6. A nutritious cook (35%)
7. Ability to play and teach a musical instrument (10%)
It’s a nannies’ market too, with parents competing with each other to poach nannies with the best skills and qualifications. Paid holidays and sick days are now par for the course for 74% of parents. A quarter of parents will provide the ‘supernanny’ with their own car, while 24% offer free computer access so they can keep in touch with their friends.
A spokesperson for the Family and Parenting Institute said: “Families in Britain are under tremendous pressure with increasing numbers of mothers working and fathers currently working the longest hours in Europe. Crucial contact time between parents and children is at a premium while parents struggle under financial and work pressures to achieve the work-life balance they want. Parents, of course, want to do the best for their children and when they cannot do it on their own then they will turn to the best possible help they can get.”
May 2007
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