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Adjust the common weekly schedule, then use Exact for half-hour precision.
hours/week
Enter the total wage paid for one shared hour, not one family's portion.
{{ currencySymbol }} per hour
This rate also drives the private-care comparison in the family ledger.
{{ currencySymbol }} per hour
Weekly hours charged entirely to {{ familyAName }} at the solo wage.
hours/week
Weekly hours charged entirely to {{ familyBName }} at the solo wage.
hours/week
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Current wage split: {{ splitLabel }}.
%
Use 52 for year-round guaranteed pay or the actual paid-week agreement.
weeks/year
Verify the actual household-employer obligations and benefit terms separately.
%
Avoid double counting anything already covered by the host credit.
{{ currencySymbol }} per week
Choose the rule the families intend to write into the agreement.
Select No host credit when hosting does not change the split.
The value is ignored when No host credit is selected.
{{ currencySymbol }} per week
The combined modeled workweek is compared with this threshold.
hours/week
The premium uses the weighted straight-time rate across the modeled week.
x
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Presentation only; the cost allocation is unchanged.
Presentation only; the cost allocation is unchanged.
Enter all wages, expenses, and credits in the same denomination.
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A nanny share is one childcare job serving two households, usually with part of the schedule shared and sometimes with private time for either family. The nanny’s pay must be distinguished from each family’s cost. A shared hourly wage is the total wage for one hour of shared care; the families then decide how to allocate that wage between them. Entering each family’s portion as though it were the total would understate the agreement.

The weekly schedule has one worker timeline. Forty shared hours plus four solo hours for one family and two solo hours for the other produce 46 paid hours, not 86. That combined total is important for overtime planning. In the United States, covered domestic employees generally receive overtime after 40 hours in a workweek, but live-in status, state law, local rules, the regular-rate calculation, and a two-household employment arrangement can change what is required.

Budget partAgreement questionEffect on total cost
Shared wagesWhat total rate is paid during shared care, and what percentage belongs to each family?Changes both family allocations and the nanny’s straight-time wage.
Solo wagesHow many private-care hours does each family receive at the solo rate?Charged entirely to the family receiving solo care.
Employer loadWhat payroll taxes, insurance, benefits, leave, and administration should be budgeted?Adds a percentage to each family’s allocated wages.
Shared expensesWhich supplies, food, transport, outings, or service fees are shared?Allocated by the chosen expense rule.
Host creditDoes one family receive a weekly credit for providing the care location?Transfers cost between families without changing nanny pay or the agreement total.

A 50/50 split is simple, but it is not automatically fair. Families may choose another wage split because of income, child count, schedule value, or negotiation. Expenses can follow that wage split, remain equal, or follow each family’s exposure to care hours. Those are agreement choices rather than legal conclusions, so the written arrangement should name the exact rule and the costs it covers.

Monthly figures need special care. Multiplying a weekly result by four understates an average calendar month because a year contains about 4.33 weeks per month. A more consistent method multiplies by the number of paid weeks in the agreement and divides the annual amount by 12. Guaranteed hours, paid holidays, vacation, sick days, closures, and backup care therefore affect the monthly budget even when a typical week looks unchanged.

A cost comparison cannot judge care quality, commute, reliability, household compatibility, or the value of a stable caregiver. It also cannot determine worker classification or complete a payroll calculation. Use the estimate to test an agreement, then confirm the actual employment, tax, insurance, wage, overtime, and leave obligations for every household and jurisdiction involved.

How to Use This Tool:

Build one representative workweek, allocate its costs, and then annualize only the paid weeks in the agreement.

  1. Enter Shared care hours and the total Shared hourly wage paid to the nanny. Add each family’s solo hours at the solo rate.
  2. Set Family A’s Shared wage share; Family B receives the remainder. Add paid weeks, employer load, shared expenses, the expense rule, any host credit, and the overtime terms proposed for the agreement.
  3. Compare the weekly, monthly, and annual amounts under Family costs, then work through every item in Agreement checks with the other family and a qualified payroll or legal adviser where needed. A host credit cannot exceed that family’s pre-credit weekly cost.

Interpreting Results:

The family totals combine allocated wages, the entered employer load, shared expenses, and any host transfer. The host credit is zero-sum across the two families: one amount falls by exactly the amount the other rises. It never reduces the nanny’s wage or the total agreement cost.

  • Overtime is triggered when total shared-plus-solo hours exceed the entered threshold. The displayed premium is an editable planning model, not a payroll determination.
  • Monthly equivalent is annual cost divided by 12, so it reflects the entered paid weeks rather than a simple four-week month.
  • Private-care comparison prices each family’s shared and solo hours as private care at the solo rate. It is a narrow cost comparison, not a recommendation.
  • A zero employer load means taxes, insurance, benefits, leave, and payroll administration are absent from the estimate, not necessarily absent from the obligation.

Technical Details:

The allocation model treats shared care and both families’ solo care as one representative workweek. Straight-time wages are constructed first, the overtime premium is calculated from the weighted straight-time rate, and that premium is allocated in proportion to each family’s pre-overtime wage base.

Formula Core

Let Hs be shared hours, HA and HB the solo hours, rs and rp the shared and solo rates, and p Family A’s shared-wage fraction. Family B’s fraction is 1 − p.

H=Hs+HA+HB WA0=pHsrs+HArp WB0=(1−p)Hsrs+HBrp

The weighted straight-time rate divides total straight wages by total hours. If T is the overtime threshold and m the overtime multiplier, only the premium above straight time is added.

r¯=WA0+WB0H HOT=max(0,H−T) WOT=HOTr¯(m−1)

When straight wages are greater than zero, Family A receives WOT × WA0 ÷ (WA0 + WB0) of the premium, and Family B receives the remainder. Each family’s entered employer load is then applied to its allocated wages after overtime.

Rule Core

Expense ruleFamily A shareFamily B share
Same as wagesp1 − p
Equal50%50%
Care hours(shared hours + A solo hours) ÷ both families’ care-hour exposureThe remainder

Weekly family cost equals wages + employer load + allocated expenses ± host credit. The credit is subtracted from the host and added to the other family; selecting no host ignores the entered credit. A credit larger than the host’s pre-credit weekly cost is rejected.

Cannual=Cweeklyw Cmonthly=Cannual12

The paid-week count w can range from 1 to 52. The private-care comparison prices each family’s shared-plus-solo hours at the solo rate, adds an overtime premium above the same threshold, applies the same employer-load percentage, and annualizes by the same paid weeks. It excludes shared expenses and the host transfer.

Limitations and Legal Notes:

This is an educational planning estimate, not payroll, tax, legal, or employment advice. The editable load and overtime settings do not determine the law that applies.

  • Confirm which household or households are employers and how joint-employment rules affect recordkeeping, wage, overtime, tax, insurance, and leave duties.
  • Confirm the applicable workweek, compensable hours, regular-rate method, live-in status, minimum wage, overtime exemptions, and state or local protections.
  • List guaranteed hours, holidays, vacation, sick leave, closures, backup care, expense reimbursement, hosting duties, and termination terms in writing.
  • Currency selection changes labels only. Enter every wage, expense, load, and credit in one denomination; no exchange conversion is performed.

Worked Examples:

Forty shared hours plus solo care

A plan has 40 shared hours at $34 per hour, four solo hours for Family A and two for Family B at $26, a 50/50 shared-wage split, a 12% employer load, $90 of weekly expenses split like wages, and a $35 credit to Family A as host. With a 40-hour threshold and 1.5× multiplier, the 46-hour workweek creates six overtime hours. The modeled weekly costs are about $945.35 for Family A and $953.31 for Family B. Over 52 paid weeks, their monthly equivalents are about $4,096.50 and $4,131.00.

References: