Number of children versus salary

Should a helper looking after 3 children get paid more than a helper looking after one or two?

In my opinion, it's not that simple. If I were considering paying my helper more than the minimum wage, I would take into account 2 main factors:

What she is being asked to do

The standard of her work


The number of children is related to the first. But for example, it may be more demanding to look after twin 6 month old babies than 3 teenagers who are at school all day and can take care of themselves.


Looking after 3 children and doing no housework (which is what some helpers do) may be less demanding than looking after one toddler, one baby and taking care of a large house and garden.


It also depends on whether one parent (or a grandparent) is going to stay home and actually take on a lot of the childcare. Looking after 3 children may be a breeze if there are 2 grandparents living in and spending loads of time playing with the kiddies, whereas having the sole charge of 2 children, especially young ones, could be hard work.


I would also consider whether the family in question has any pets, any elderly persons or disabled persons to be cared for, whether the family is in the habit of entertaining frequently or inviting houseguests to stay frequently / for long periods etc etc.


As for me, my helper gets the minimum wage + bonuses when we have houseguests and for good work. That means if her work isn't extra good, she doesn't get any bonus. The result is that her work is always extra good. I also provide other types of incentives.


In the long term, I hope to increase her salary, but I want to take things nice and slow. For now, I prefer using bonuses and incentives such as extra holiday time.

Thank you Snow Rose. Those are my thoughts. I am looking to employ a new helper and wondered how much to offer. I recently had a baby making my child total 3 but did not offer any more money because in all honesty my current helper does the bare minimum and takes to her room for hours on end. I am home alot and do most things for the children. There have been mutterings that she does not think mshe is paid enough to her mates ? so wondered how to proceed with the next one.

You may be guided by the girls that you interview. You may be blown away by someone who has been here for ages and may think that it is worth matching her salary (which will hopefully have increased over the years) etc.


The number of children is only relevant if she has a lot of responsibility for them. My helper had/will have virtually no responsibility for my children, so I pay according to the size of our house and the amount of housework created by us all (especially the children, so the number has some relevance).


You can always increase salary, but cannot decrease it. Increases or bonuses for a job well done should work for both of you.

Suze ~

So you're going to hire a new helper. There seems to be 2 issues with your current DH: 1) She's grumbling about being underpaid and 2) she stays in her room for long periods.


I think you need to decide what / how much you want your new DH to do and then assess what a fair salary would be. Maybe your present DH feels that if she worked really hard she wouldn't get paid any more? A small bonus works wonders for motivation. But of course you should be able to get a reasonable amount of work for the minimum salary.


Almost all of my neighbours pay minimum wage so that's what I pay my DH, but since I work her pretty hard (am waiting for additional DH to arrive) I also give fairly generous bonuses.


However, if you live in a neighbourhood where everyone else pays more than minimum wage, you probably won't get away with starting off at $3400 and adding a bonus for good work. In my opinion, the reality is that you might have to go with the flow. I myself would find out the average of what others are paying, offer slightly below that average and then add bonuses for good performance.


About the helper always disappearing in her room, I get the impression you don't like that. With the new DH, make it crystal clear what you're expecting of her and then use incentives to motivate her.

Thanks again Snow Rose. There are far too many issues, they are just a couple. I do not believe for one moment she is under paid. She gets way above minimum and does very little for it. I could encourage her with bonuses but why should I? I could not give her any more money when she is reluctant to earn the good salary she already gets. Hence this is why I feel the need to get a new one. I do not mind paying more for a good helper, but think the idea of bonuses etc is a far better way to go.

I understand your situation now. I agree that an overpaid under-performing helper is almost certainly not going to respond to incentives. Yes, I think the only way out is to replace your DH.


With mine, I really emphasise that any extra money has to be EARNED. But of course only someone who is a good person to start with is going to respond to this.


Maybe you should reconsider paying above minimum to your new DH if you're doing most of the childcare anyway?


Or, if you 'have' to pay above minimum because everyone else in your neighbourhood does, be sure to get her doing more work / working to a higher standard, so it's worth it for you.

It would be so interesting if there were some statistics on this subject. Like how many helpers are employed by expats (on work visas) and locals (permanent residents). And how many work in a 2-helper family, how many get paid above minimum wage. I don't think Immigration keeps any stats, but it would be really nice to know this stuff.

i would advice paying her the minimum and see how is her work performance. if she is really good you can always consider giving her a raise later. but to start off with a high pay will only spoil her and she will expect even more than is paid. incentives and bonuses are good too as long as you dont make a commitment until you have seen how well she worked. that's my opinion.