The head mom at Park Slope’s preeminent parents group is looking to wrangle a few hundred Kings County parents to participate in a biennial nanny survey, which empowers Brooklyn families with the knowledge to net quality childcare at the right price.
“People are more confident in the decisions they make because of the information that Park Slope Parents provides,” said Dr. Susan Fox, founder of the eponymous Park Slope information exchange group, which boasts more than 6,500 members. “It’s Brooklyn’s most comprehensive survey of nanny pay standards.”
Fox has leveraged her doctorate in Communications and Social Science Research to query hundreds of Kings County nanny employers through her online survey since 2008, and her questionnaires have helped first-time parents understand the pay rates, benefits, responsibilities, and other concerns associated with hiring an in-house childcare professional.
“We’ve had nanny’s stealing alcohol, shoplifting, pocketing money for music class, so we’ve created guides on how to double check that your nanny is doing a good job,” said Fox, who noted that the vast majority of nannies are on the level, with less than one-percent of parents reporting crooked childcare.
So far, Fox has only gotten about half of the roughly 800 respondents she needs to fill out her hotly anticipated report, and the mom doctor noted that every year is a battle when it comes to getting Brooklyn’s busy nanny bosses to set aside 10 minutes to answer questions for the greater good.
“It’s a bigger and bigger challenge every year,” said Fox. “There’s just so much info coming into people’s inboxes.”
In the past, Fox has asked moms and dads if they cough up a little extra for their nanny’s MetroCard and phone expenses, but this year’s survey will be the first to questions parents on whether they feel their baby sitter’s phone habits get in the way of their chaperoning responsibilities.
“There’s definitely way too many people plugged in,” said Fox. “We’re asking whether or not parents talk to their nannies about how much time they should spend on their phones.”
Parents from across the borough still have until the end of April to participate in Fox’s survey, which she hopes to release sometime in May.
