Nannies for the Ultra-Rich Are Becoming a New Elite Profession — With Salaries Reaching $200,000

She works at least 12 hours a day, seven days a week — but then gets an entire week off. Her annual salary can reach $200,000, which, when calculated hourly, can rival the earnings of an employee at a major investment fund, according to The Economist.

Just a decade ago, jobs paying that much were rare. “We used to constantly hear, ‘I’m not going to pay that much,’” says Anita Rogers, founder of British American Household Staffing (BAHS), an agency that recruits nannies, governesses, butlers and chefs for wealthy families. Now, she says, everything has changed: affluent parents are willing to pay for the very best professionals.

They are looking for nannies who have studied at prestigious academies, speak several languages, hold degrees from elite universities, are willing to travel constantly and can work extremely long hours.

The market for such specialists is booming. Rogers founded BAHS in 2012, and today, she says, the agency serves around 7,000 clients. Its competitors include Adventure Nannies and Morgan & Mallet.

At first glance, working for the ultra-rich may not seem very different from being an ordinary nanny: feeding children, preparing meals, taking them for walks and driving them to activities. But the surroundings and expectations can be on an entirely different level.

A nanny may often be just one of a dozen or more household staff members. Travel is also part of the job. “They need nannies with experience on yachts and private jets. That’s just a given now,” Rogers says.

Some requirements can seem downright absurd. One nanny recalls being required to iron a child’s underwear every day. Another faced an angry employer because she failed to bring a ladder to replace a light bulb in a playroom with a ceiling nearly five meters high.

The rota nanny system is also becoming increasingly popular, with two nannies working in shifts: one stays with the family while the other takes time off. This allows children to have round-the-clock care throughout the year. The price of such luxury can run into hundreds of thousands of dollars.

For families, the system is convenient because they do not have to find a new nanny for every trip. The children are always cared for by two familiar professionals.

For nannies themselves, the schedule can also be appealing: after a week of work, they get seven days off. But the arrangement has a downside, too.

Lauren Lomascallo has worked as a nanny for wealthy clients for a decade. “If you had asked me since I was a little girl what I wanted to be, I would have said a homemaker and a mom,” she admits.

Now, she worries that her career may leave no room for a family of her own. “If I stay in this industry forever, I won’t be able to have children. And if I leave it, how will I make money?”

For some, however, working for ultra-wealthy families looks like a real-life glamorous fantasy. In June, Hulu launched the reality series Million Dollar Nannies, set in Ibiza. Six women and two men compete for jobs in the homes of wealthy families, with one of the contestants having previously worked as Kourtney Kardashian’s nanny.

Judging by the show, it is sometimes the adults — rather than the children — who throw the tantrums and make outrageous demands.

But the show’s central fantasy is an unexpected one: the dream is not to become rich yourself, but to work for the rich.