Help with hourly pay
Hi everyone. I really need honest advice because I genuinely can’t tell anymore if I’m being underpaid or if I’m overthinking it because I’m emotionally attached to this family.
I’m 22 years old in Ohio and I currently make $25/hour nannying for an 8-year-old boy whose mom passed away. His dad is a widower, and over time I feel like I’ve slowly taken on the role of nanny, house manager, cleaner, personal assistant, and honestly kind of a parent figure while I’m there.
When I first started, it was more normal nanny responsibilities, but now I basically help keep the entire household functioning. I’m not just taking care of the child. I’m cleaning up after multiple adults too. The dad, the 18-year-old brother, the uncle, and grandma are all in and out of the house, and somehow the cleaning and upkeep mostly falls onto me during the week.
Every Monday I walk into piles of dishes and laundry that built up over the weekend. I’m the one spending the week catching the entire house back up. I’m washing and folding everyone’s laundry — not just the child’s. I wash and fold the dad’s clothes, the 18-year-old brother’s clothes, towels, sheets, blankets, and whatever else is piled up. I’m constantly remaking beds, washing linens, cleaning bathrooms, vacuuming and cleaning floors every single day, loading and unloading the dishwasher constantly, wiping things down, picking up clutter everywhere, and trying to make the house functional again.
At the same time, I’m still fully responsible for the 8-year-old. I make his meals, pack his lunches, help with homework, check school emails and communication, take him to sports and activities, help with bedtime, do overnights, and handle a lot of emotional regulation and attachment issues related to losing his mom. I’m also listed as a guardian/contact for certain school and medical situations, which feels like a much bigger responsibility than a normal nanny role.
The house is also basically the neighborhood hangout spot. His friends are constantly over, sometimes 6+ kids at once, and I end up supervising all of them, feeding them, dealing with arguments, and trying to keep everything under control while still managing the housework and taking care of the child I was actually hired for.
On top of that, the dad frequently texts me last minute asking me to come early, stay late, or do overnights. There’s very little structure or communication sometimes. When the child has sports or events, I’m often given almost no details and just expected to figure it out myself. If groceries are needed, I’m stopping on my way and using my own car and gas. I run errands for the dad, ship things out for him, help with holiday shopping and Christmas stuff, buy stocking stuffers, and generally fill in wherever something needs done.
I also deal with syncope/fainting episodes and my own health issues, so the physical and emotional exhaustion from this job has started catching up to me. I care deeply about this child and I know this family has been through a horrible loss, which is part of why I’ve taken on so much without pushing back. But I’m starting to feel less like “the nanny” and more like the person holding the household together during the week.
I currently make $25/hour, but with summer coming and moving into more full-time hours, I’ve been considering asking for $28/hour. But honestly after typing all this out, I don’t even know if that’s still undervaluing the amount of responsibility and work involved.
For experienced nannies, what would you charge in this situation? Am I being unreasonable for feeling overwhelmed by the amount I’m expected to do? Does this sound more like a nanny/house manager role than a standard nanny position? **** And what I’m struggling with the most, - let’s say I think I want to ask for 30 or more, how do I go about asking from a big jump from 25- to 5+ more?**