The 22,000 nannies

NANNIES in central London are receiving inflation-busting rises and ever more impressive perks including shares of employers' City bonuses - because of a nationwide shortage, a survey reveals today. Parents are now paying their daily nannies an average salary of 22,000 a year in the capital. That is a 10 per cent rise on last year and a marked increase on the 15,000 average wage in 1997.

Mobile phones with free calls are now considered an essential tool of the trade. Other perks include a chauffeur, private healthcare, gym membership, separate flats, use of a country cottage and use of the employer's horse. One newly-qualified nanny from the North was offered exclusive use of a houseboat in Chelsea, while another was offered four free flights to Europe each year aboard her employer's private jet.

Anne Babb, proprietor of Swansons nanny agency in Chiswick, said: "Parents are prepared to do a lot to keep nannies they like. One woman I know who works in a merchant bank even pays her nanny a share of her bonus."

The private childcare industry took a battering over the case of Louise Woodward, the British teenage au pair who was convicted of manslaughter of a baby in her care in the US.

The resultant concerns - even if unfounded among parents over the effectiveness of vetting procedures is believed to have led to an increased willingness to pay and retain reliable, trusted nannies at any price. Many parents will now pay up to 2,000 for an agency to find them a reputable nanny, a process which includes checks with all previous employers.

Outside central London, pay is lower, but rising even more sharply, according to the survey to be published tomorrow in Nursery World magazine. A daily nanny in outer London and the Home Counties earns on average 17,752, up 14 per cent on 1999, it has found in its annual supplement, Professional Nanny.

Elsewhere in Britain, nannies in towns are paid on average 15,000, while those in the coun-

tryside get 14,000 - a 30 per cent rise for both groups since 1998. The survey questionnaire was put to more than 60 of Britain's biggest nanny agencies, responsible for placing thousands of nannies each year, and a database of more than 3,000 clients held by Nannytax, a leading payroll service for nannies and their employers.

Today, London nannies reacted in disbelief to the claims of a 22,000 average wage. "No way," was the most common response among carers in Kensington Gardens.

Some however, admitted to spending weeks in the Caribbean and going on skiing holidays with their employers in the line of duty.

Rebecca Delia said she was fairly well rewarded for looking after three children and a dog in Bayswater, but added: "22,000? That would be nice, although I do get around 20,000. I worked from 7.45am until 11.30pm yesterday so I'm hardly overpaid.

"I do get perks like skiing holidays and trips to the Caribbean. The fact that you get to go at all is good but frankly I would not choose to be stuck in the Bahamas for an entire month. I get private healthcare, and sometimes drive my employers' 30,000 Land Rover Discovery."

AMERICAN Nicole Garneau, 21, earns 300 a week in Kensington for caring for "four children and one on the way".

She said: "It's extremely hard work. Things cost a lot and you have to be careful. I have only just started this job, on Monday in fact, and I certainly don't earn any of the perks you are talking about."

CATHERINE TOOLEY, 19, works as a nanny from Bayswater.

She said: "I know people who earn huge amounts but I certainly don't.

"I have just come out of university and I have a lot of debts to pay off.

"Even though I live at home, it will take me an awfully long time."

SWEDE Elin Andreasson, 19, said: "I earn 80 a week and I live in with the family, which saves me money.

I also get a Travelcard each week. I have only been here for two weeks I came over for one year - and I am finding London very expensive. Notting Hill, where I am, is very exclusive."

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