Is It Worth It to Use a Nanny Agency?Nanny Agency v.s. DIY Hiring

An often unrealized challenge of finding safe and reputable childcare is that the nanny and babysitting industry is unregulated. Because there are no legal standards for health and safety, education, or age-appropriate development, finding the right childcare solution for your family can seem impossible. It’s important to consider all your options when making the best choice for your family. Read on as we explore the question “is it worth it to use a nanny agency?” by discussing the key features of using a nanny agency versus hiring independently, and their distinctive benefits and challenges.

Introduction

We’re excited to feature a blog post from one of our amazing community members, Dilia Coppedge of The Nanny Loft. In this thoughtful article, Dilia explores a question many parents face: Is It Worth Using a Nanny Agency? (Nanny Agency vs. DIY Hiring) With honesty and clarity, she breaks down the benefits and challenges of both approaches, helping families make confident, informed decisions about their childcare journey. Whether you're overwhelmed by the DIY hiring process or curious about what agencies really offer, this post is packed with valuable insight.

To learn more about Dilia’s work and her commitment to raising the standards in private in-home care, visit www.thenannyloft.com.

You can read the full blog post here.

What is a nanny agency?

A nanny agency is a professional service that sources candidates to find the best and most qualified nanny for your family’s unique needs and preferences. A nanny agency will discuss your family’s needs with you, create and post a job posting, vet all candidates, and find you you a suitable candidate. The agency will then assist you in hiring your nanny directly, or in some cases, the nanny might remain an employee of the agency while still providing care for your family. The Nanny Loft is one of the few agencies that also employs caregivers directly, while many agencies facilitate the recruiting process and assist the family with the actual hiring process.

Benefits of using a nanny agency

Using a nanny agency takes the time and energy commitment of finding a nanny off of your plate while ensuring a smooth hiring process. Additionally, agencies help ensure that the nanny you’re hiring is legit through a rigorous vetting process. This might include reference checks, state and/or federal background checks, clearances and drug testing, training and certification requirements, and more.

Challenges of using a nanny agency

Using a reputable agency comes with a higher price tag. Because these agencies are utilizing their resources such as administrative staff support and their own childcare expertise, there will often be additional fees such as initial and placement fees. Also, because nannies recruited through agencies are typically more experienced– these are called “career nannies”– their hourly rate will likely be higher than an independent nanny hire. The idea is that you get more bang for your buck, but this feature can be a financial burden for some families. Private in-home care is also a highly dysregulated industry– in fact, The Nanny Loft is one of the few agencies going above industry standards. Using an agency comes with the risk of inadequate health, safety, and wellbeing standards if you don’t know how to research reputable agencies. Additionally, using a nanny agency does not guarantee that they will provide you with a perfect candidate. Their search timeframe might take longer than expected, and they might turn up with no suitable results. So let’s explore the pros and cons of DIY hiring to get a full picture.

What is DIY hiring?

Hiring a nanny independently means that all recruiting and hiring processes would be solely your responsibility. You would post a job, interview and vet candidates, and hire your chosen nanny independently through community groups, word of mouth, or caregiving databases. The nanny you choose would be your employee and this would include all legal requirements and processes of being an employer, such as paying taxes, having workers’ comp insurance, paying overtime, and drawing up a contract.

Benefits of DIY hiring

Hiring independently guarantees you have full control over the hiring process. While a nanny agency might be making some recruiting decisions behind the scenes, hiring independently would allow you to make decisions about every candidate and application. This can be especially helpful if you are worried the nanny agencies in your area have poor hiring standards. Additionally, you might be able to save more of your investment on a nanny who has less experience or qualifications but is willing and eager to learn.

Challenges of DIY hiring

While having full control over the hiring process has its pros, this can be a huge time commitment. For example, The Nanny Loft filters out 100 candidates for every 1 good nanny. On your own, this can take upwards of 50 hours a month (or more). This is especially true for a family already overwhelmed without consistent childcare who is looking for help. Additionally, because private in-home care is so dysregulated, finding someone who is safe and has legitimate qualifications can be difficult. You can conduct your own vetting process to weed out any bad eggs, but the vetting process of a nanny agency is typically much more robust and expansive. Complementing the challenges of using a nanny agency, a lower hourly rate for your nanny might mean you’re getting someone with less experience or a temperament that doesn’t match what you’re looking for.

Final Thoughts

Finding safe and consistent childcare is hard enough, let alone finding a nanny that fosters development for your child within your family’s needs and preferences. That begs the question once again: is it worth it to use a nanny agency? If you are willing to pay an elevated rate for a thoroughly screened caregiver, then the answer is yes. Nanny agencies provide safety, security, and optics through things like reference and work history verification. DIY hiring can be time consuming, especially for families who don’t have the bandwidth to add something else to their plate. But if you need more flexibility, it makes sense to explore all your options, including DIY hiring.

At the end of the day, every family is different. What works for your neighbor down the street might not work for you at all. It all depends on your family’s financial situation, time commitment, and priorities for the care of your child.