‘How Many Times in a Job Does Your Boss Hug You?’ : Modern Nannies Love Their Fringe Benefits

After 10 years of toiling in a bank, Pat Neelan two years ago became a Mary Poppins.

She’s now a nanny, sans umbrella.

“The best part of the job is the baby doesn’t care if you come in a pin-striped suit,” said Neelan, 32, of suburban Allison Park. “They just want you to love them and care for them. And there are perks. How many times in a job does your boss hug you?”

Neelan and her colleagues are challenging the traditional image of a dour English woman in a starched uniform who forces cod liver oil down a crying toddler’s throat and keeps her distance from the rest of the family.

American nannies are mostly young, active women, some with college degrees, who wear jeans and sweat shirts and are treated as a part of the family.

$5 an Hour Minimum

Today’s nannies--a few of whom are men--are trained in such subjects as the health and safety of children, child development and child psychology. They often bring added skills in music, literature, sports or languages to the job.

Many have left jobs as nurses or day-care center workers. Some just recently graduated from high school, while others are mothers or grandmothers in their own right.

Regardless of their backgrounds, they command at least $5 an hour for their services, which, they insist, do not include housework unrelated to the child.

Both live-in and day nannies average $200 to $250 a week, but they may be paid as much as $400, depending on the location and their education and experience.

In addition, nannies usually receive health care benefits, a car or a car allowance, and two weeks’ paid vacation and personal days, according to Vicki Van Steenhouse of the American Council of Nanny Schools.

“It’s to the advantage of the family to have a happy nanny,” said Steenhouse, who is also the coordinator of the nanny training program at Delta College in University Center, Mich., the first American college to train nannies.

If it all sounds a little steep, there are about 100 potential employers for every trained nanny who are only too willing to pay the price, she said. Newspaper advertisements seeking nannies have become common.

Families Desperate

“Families are desperate. They need somebody, and they need somebody right away,” said Leslie Bartok of Community College of Allegheny County in Pittsburgh, which has been deluged with calls from people wanting nannies since it began a training program last September.

“The demand for nannies is nationwide,” said Gloria Meyer, the coordinator of the nanny training program at Seattle Central Community College. “We’re just overwhelmed with people asking for nannies. We’re getting them from all over the United States--Michigan, New Jersey, South Carolina.”

Sherri Bruno, a 30-year-old flight attendant from suburban Pittsburgh, has been searching for six months for a nanny who will care for her two infants about three days a week, 24 hours a day, while she and her husband, Tony, an airline pilot, are away on flights.

In addition to the $175 weekly salary, the Brunos are offering an incentive: They’ll pay a student’s $1,000 tuition to nanny school.

“My whole future depends on this,” Bruno said. “My mother works and Tony’s parents live in Philadelphia. So I don’t have any relatives around who can help out.”

Bruno once had a baby sitter stay with her first son when they were away. Then one day last January she called home about 9 p.m. and found no one there.

The baby sitter “took my son on a rainy January night to a pro-life rally and didn’t tell me about it,” she said. “I started looking for a nanny the day after the rally. I decided I wanted someone who is trained so I could have peace of mind.”

Bruno said she wants a person “who likes infants, of course.”

“And it has to be someone who can speak English well and who is well read. Tony graduated from college and I did too, and we expect our children to go to college.”

In this age of well-educated, two-income couples--the group most in demand of nannies--the Brunos’ expectations are not unusual, educators say.

Families Want a Teacher

“The families look for good grammar, experience with children, knowing about what is needed to foster children’s development, art activities, children’s literature, music. In many ways, they want almost a teacher in addition to basic child care,” said Cathy Stechschulte, director of the nanny program at Community College of Allegheny County.

Baby sitters usually are not trained in child care and development. Day-care centers usually have limited hours and often do not accept infants or sick children, Stechschulte said.

“Nannies are better than day care,” she said. “They’re consistent, and that’s one of the most important things in child care.”

“A nanny is the best present you can give your child,” said Deborah Davis of Pomona, Calif., a child development educator who publishes the National Nanny Newsletter and employs a nanny for her own children. “It’s someone who is fully committed to paying attention to them.”

If you can find one, that is.

More Mothers Working

All care-givers--from nannies to day-care centers to baby sitters--are at a premium nowadays as more and more mothers join the work force.

“The pressure on the infant market especially is incredible,” said Amy Wilkins of the Children’s Defense Fund in Washington.

In 1985, about 45 % of American married women with children under 1 year old worked outside the home, according to Howard Hayghe of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

In addition, about 44 % of all married women with children under 3 and almost 48 % with children under 6 worked outside the home. Those figures represent about a 50 % jump over 1975, he said.

Hayghe said there are about 8.6 million preschoolers, the group most in need of child care, whose mothers work.

Enormous Demand for Care

“There’s just a crying need for child care. Parents are having to settle for less than what they could have just because we don’t have enough people to fill the demand,” Steenhouse said.

Schools and colleges, sensing the growing pool of working mothers, have been jumping on the nanny bandwagon, although there still is no national standard or certification process for nannies.

In the 1984-85 school year, only two colleges trained nannies. Last year, there were well over two dozen, and more colleges plan to add a nanny program to their curricula.

In addition, dozens of private employment and placement agencies, which were the first to train nannies in this country, have also appeared in recent years.

But their problems mirror those of prospective employers--too few students. Several colleges and agencies have folded their programs as a result.

Recruiting a Priority

“Everybody wants to have a nanny, but no one wants to be one,” said Community College’s Bartok. “You really have to recruit and recruit and recruit.”

Child-care educators say part of the problem lies with the traditional low pay and poor image given those who work with children.

“Up until a few years ago, this was not a viable occupation for American men and women,” Steenhouse said. “It’s only by getting information out that you can make $200 a week plus benefits that people have realized they can make a living being a nanny.”