Which Makes Most Financial Sense? Domestic Helper vs Nanny vs Infant Care

Young working parents returning to the workforce after they come to the end of their maternity and paternity leave face one common challenge: having to make arrangements for their babies to be taken care of.

When it comes to getting help to take care of your baby, these are the 3 common options. While most parents have personal preference over whether to hire a nanny for their child or send them to an infant care centre, for many parents, the decision might just boil down to the cost. For young parents, this is not an insignificant factor.

To help young parents make an informed decision, we compare the total costs of the different options, factoring in other easily overlooked factors such as transport fees and costs of meals. We consider their respective benefits and drawbacks so you can decide.

Foreign Domestic Helper

Pros

Having someone at home to take care of the baby will save you travelling time and the hassle of picking your baby up. Besides that, they can ease your workload by helping with household chores and cooking. One aspect that the other two options lack is that there will be someone available to take care of the baby over the weekends (if needed).

Cons

Many people will not fully trust a newborn with a domestic helper as she might not have adequate infant care knowledge. Hence, they are likely to ask their parents to go over to their place just to make sure that everything is okay. This would incur higher total cost as one would usually give a small token fee of appreciation to their parents.

 

Full-Time Nanny

Pros

Typically, nannies are trained in infant care hence they are more professional at taking care of your child. They might also provide you with tips that you might not know especially if you are a first time parent. Furthermore, as your child grows slightly older, they might also offer to cook nutritional meals for your child (you have to bear the cost of the ingredients).

Compared to infant care centers, they are usually more flexible and are open to negotiation regarding pick up timings.

Cons

Travelling to send and pick up baby from nanny’s place. Your views on the upbringing of your child might differ from your nanny.

 

Infant Care

Pros

Your baby will be able to mingle with other children. Having more interaction allows for socialization to begin at a young age. Besides offering the child with care, they also provide a platform for learning through educational toys and other activities. Compared to the other two, it allows more development in areas such as intellectual learning.

Cons

For working parents who find themselves having to OT often may incur themselves quite a substantial sum of late fees. Also, parents would have to travel to and fro the infant care center.

Since there are many kids in the center, your baby is more susceptible to falling sick. Also, if your baby falls sick, you will not be able to send them to the infant care center and will have to take leave from work to take care of them.

 

Comparison At A Glance

For parents who requires help for household chores, it might be better to hire a domestic helper to lessen your workload. If you are not comfortable with someone else living in your house, it is important to pick an infant care centre or a nanny close to your home.

Ultimately, determine what factors are most important to you and tap on the different schemes and subsidies (if available) to alleviate the cost of childcare.

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