Pathways Forward: Nannies as Early Care Educators
For over 100 years, American nannies have worked in the shadows of the childcare industry, doing important yet unrecognized work for children and their families. Unlike other childcare professionals, nannies are not licensed or regulated. There are no Federal or State recognized standards of care or best practices for nannies to align themselves to or for parents that informs a respectable nanny-parent working relationship. In addition, there are no standardized educational pathways for nannies’ career development, either through privately-provided workshops or college credit programs. As a result, nannies have struggled to receive the same respect as other workers in the childcare industry, despite holding the same high level of responsibility as other early care educators to ensure that all children get the best care possible.
In order to evaluate nannies’ current level of satisfaction with the professional development and career opportunities available to them at TIFFAN and elsewhere, TIFFAN collaborated with the INA and a national nanny placement agency, Adventure Nannies, to conduct a survey reaching over 25,000 nannies in the U.S. Two Hundred and Three responses were collected, including one-hundred and nineteen unique responses to the question, “What ideas do you have that would support you in providing the best care for children?”
The vast majority of respondents to this survey were experienced and educated. Over 80% had at least 10 years’ combined experience as a nanny, nanny educator, newborn care specialist, teacher or mother’s helper; and 61% held either a college or advanced degrees.
what nannies wanted
Access to more education and training, including specialized and advanced courses
Help accessing education and training (for example, through scholarships or grants)
Standardization of educational pathways and certification/licensing
Support from peers and peer-experts
Training for parents and nannying agencies
Support for nannies’ rights, both through education and advocacy
main takeaways
As the childcare industry moves forward after COVID-19 to re-imagine childcare as a less fragmented system of care that is focused on ensuring an equitable, accessible and well-funded early childhood system of care, it is essential to include nannies as professional members of the childcare workforce. Although further studies are warranted, it is clear that nannies are skilled professionals struggling for recognition, with a desire and motivation for recognized education and career pathways to continue the important yet unrecognized work that they do.