HUMAN RESOURCES at MIT
In-home Care

Overview | Assess Your Needs | Become Familiar with the Options
Child Care Centers | Family Child Care | In-home Care
Know the Key Correlates of Quality | Develop a Search Strategy

In-home care can be provided by a live-in nanny or au pair, or by a caregiver who comes to your home each day. In-home care can offer highly flexible hours and, if necessary, longer hours of care than center-based or family child care. In-home caregivers may also be willing to do minor household chores, pick up children at school, and/or do some cooking. Child care can continue uninterrupted if your child is sick, although in the event that the in-home caregiver becomes sick, has a family emergency, or is on vacation, you will need to find alternative care. In-home care is often one-on-one, which has advantages, including limiting your child’s exposure to germs, but also makes this arrangement the least supervised of the child care options. It is also more challenging to do the initial assessment, since in-home caregivers are usually hired on the basis of interviews and references alone, without much first-hand observation; a trial period is therefore highly recommended.

In-home care is not regulated by the Department of Early Education and Care, or any other agency. Since the child is in his/her own home, the parent is considered the employer, fully responsible for screening the caregiver and also responsible for paying workman’s compensation, unemployment insurance, and social security. Salaries for in-home caregivers generally run between $10.00 and $16.00 per hour. The cost of live-in care tends to be somewhat less, as salaries are offset by the provision of living space (generally involving, at minimum, a private bedroom and bath), but some professionally trained nannies earn $500 per week salary, with benefits at additional cost, on top of room and board. In-home care is most economical when more than one child is involved, as the cost tends not to vary significantly with the number of children in care. Some families reduce costs by sharing a caregiver with another family, although attention should be paid to liability (a family child care license might need to be obtained), and co-employer issues.

Depending on the time of year and search method used, you will want to allow six to eight weeks to hire a live-in or live-out caregiver. Parents can consider using a child care placement agency that will provide a number of pre-screened candidates for consideration, for a fee roughly equivalent to the caregiver’s monthly salary. Alternatively, parents can choose to search on their own, either relying on their own networks (advertising through friends, relatives, neighbors, religious and community organizations, and at MIT), and/or by placing an ad in community newspapers; this approach is much more time-consuming but obviously less costly.

If you are searching for in-home care, the Center for Work, Family and Personal Life can provide you with lists of in-home/au pair agencies and with a Choosing In-Home Child Care Packet that includes suggestions on how to screen agencies; how to conduct an independent search (including where to advertise for caregivers within the MIT community); handling interviews and reference checks; and on employer issues such as supervision, contracts, and employer obligations.