As back to school season comes into full swing, families are looking to find child care – although it may look a little different this year.
While schools finalize their reopening plans, families are looking to fill gaps in their child care needs, and with this new school year will come new challenges and possible changes to your job requirements. And when your job requirements change, so could your child care rate.
Helping with Schoolwork
If you have experience with tutoring, homeschooling, or with homework help, be sure to let families know! You can mention this skill directly on your profile and when applying to jobs. Whether children will be learning virtually from home, or with a hybrid of in-person and at-home schooling, chances are that you’ll be called upon to help with this.
To sitters who want to apply to these jobs, I would say that you will most likely somehow have the responsibility of either helping children stay on task with schoolwork or just checking that they did their schoolwork. Especially this coming year I think this is going to be something that sitters take on.
– Mary K.
Depending on the level of engagement the parent requires from you, this is an area that sitters generally indicate a reason to increase their rate. According to our recent survey in our Sitter Community Facebook group, 77% of sitters indicated that they would increase their rate should homeschooling or tutoring be a job requirement.
Quarantine Procedures
If you’re planning on providing in-person care, be prepared to see job requirements list social distancing protocols—including requirements to wear masks, and/or additional cleaning procedures while in the home. In the same sitter survey, 42% of sitters indicated that additional procedures to follow surrounding quarantine and COVID-19 precautions would warrant an increase in pay rate.
This is no light task to take on. Zachary Testo, MD, an Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine, noted that sitters should,
Do a mental check and be honest with yourself about whether or not going into other homes is what you’re willing to do at this time.
If you’re prepared to enter into a family’s home, be open and communicative with the family regarding your needs to feel safe and comfortable. This is new territory for families and sitters alike and the more you communicate with each other, the better.
Nanny Shares and Schooling Pods
If you find yourself considering working for a nanny share or a schooling pod, you will be working with multiple children from different families. Inherently, this may lead to an increase in your pay rate. Within our sitter community, 57% of sitters indicated they would increase their rate if they were a part of a nanny-share or schooling pod.
As families are getting more creative with how they’ll stay safe while providing social interaction for their children during the pandemic, the idea of creating quarantine bubbles is on the rise. In a pod, families hang out together, often without regard to social distancing—but outside of the pod, they follow recommended face covering and social distancing rules. If you are a part of a pod or nanny share, you may be asked to follow restricted guidelines with respect to social distancing as well.
What to Consider
There are multiple factors to consider when choosing a job that will be the right for you and what won’t, especially during this time. Be sure to outline in your profile all of the skills that you can and are willing to do, whether that be homeschooling, driving children to activities, or working in a nanny-share. Adjust your rate accordingly for the requirements that are being asked of you and most importantly: do what you feel most comfortable with.
