Mom Pays $400 A Month For A Full-Time Nanny So She Can Enjoy Drinks While Her Toddler Is Entertained
"This is why people hate you."
fizkes | Shutterstock There's nothing wrong with hiring a nanny. Bragging about having one is quite another thing, however. One woman decided to do just that and it backfired on her spectacularly.
The anonymous mom posted to social media that she pays $400 a month while living in Bali so she can drink while her toddler is entertained. Although, the real controversy to many was the amount she was paying.
Content creator Ingrid Wan alleged it was unethical for this woman to live abroad and pay someone just $400 a month for 40 hours of work per week.
A mom pays $400 a month for a full-time nanny so she can enjoy drinks while her toddler is entertained.
Most were outraged by the sense of entitlement her post garnered and the obvious attempt to bait critics into arguing about what it means to be a mom. The point Wan made regarding the nanny's pay was much more profound.
The issue had nothing to do with a mother paying for a nanny. There's nothing wrong with that. If a family can afford childcare, they should utilize it. The issue is what this mom was willing to pay.
Childcare providers are frequently underappreciated and underpaid.
According to a survey by NannyMag, 60% of childcare providers in the U.S., specifically nannies, are unhappy with their weekly pay, and most said they work anywhere from 40-60 hours a week with a pay cap of $16 per hour.
That translates to $640 per week. Certainly not a livable wage, especially considering the amount of work and the level of risk involved with the profession. Now, put that into the perspective of this American mom living in Bali.
Wan was frustrated with the woman paying a full-time nanny far less than a livable wage.
She showed disdain for the woman and others who defended her by saying $400 is actually a lot for them because they reside in Bali. She claimed this practice was exploitation and fully expected visiting Americans to pay more than local prices.
She said it only makes sense for locals to pay the local prices, not people coming from outside the country.
"This is why other countries do not want Americans there," Wan said. "Because you're coming there to take advantage of the locals."
She concluded her video by saying people who were defending the original creator were a part of the problem.
Many argued the mom paying local rates was perfectly acceptable.
"Your intention is good, but foreigners paying western rates isn't necessary," the top comment read. "The cost of living is different because it's another country with different wages, it's not taking advantage."
"If you're going to live in another country, you do actually pay the country's prices...that's normal," another commenter said.
"I pay a driver in Bali $30 AUD to drive to the airport as that's what they charge, but the same drive in AUS would be $250. Am I supposed to pay the driver $250?" a third commenter asked.
A content creator named Ayisha explained that paying one service worker significantly more than the cost of their services will cause others to raise their costs, and then you're outsourcing the locals, which causes more harm than good.
"What you should do if you want to be helpful is change their quality of life by paying some bills for them, gifting them things, or giving a healthy but reasonable tip when leaving," she stated in her caption. "Do NOT change the locals' prices too much because they will become unaffordable to the actual locals."
Perhaps the real concern no one is talking about is that this mom is bragging about paying a nanny so she can drink.
The one thing it seems no one is really pointing out is that this woman is paying a nanny just so she can drink and watch from afar.
Shouldn't she be playing with her own child? I get needing a break every now and then, but from the way she made it sound, it seems like the mom is choosing to have a nanny not for the help it provides but to avoid doing any actual parenting.
That, however, is the beauty of looking in from the outside on social media. We only get a snippet of the picture without the full story. Perhaps her post was a sarcastic way to tell others how much she appreciates her nanny and how wonderful she is.
At the end of the day, no one really knows what's going on in her life, so to each their own.
Sahlah Syeda is a writer for YourTango who covers entertainment, news, and human interest topics.