Highlights:
- Overall, TIPS are UP! House cleaners, superintendents, nannies, and teachers should be seeing more monetary in this year’s holiday stocking. Housekeepers are receiving (on average) $20 more than last year, superintendents are receiving $10 more, and nannies see close to $100.
- Parents of K-12 students use class gifts to give. Three out of four parents (76%) give money as part of a class gift versus the seven in ten (69%) of families in preschool/daycare that give monetary gifts individually.
- A personal touch still happens, and the option to go further is growing. One in three (33%) are giving something more than cash (homemade cookies, treats, wine) to their service providers, up from 25% in 2014.
- The more the merrier (or poorer). Having a full time nanny and living in a doorman building with a super will cost you roughly $1500 if you give the average amounts as gifts this holiday season.
DETAILED FINDINGS:
Personal Neighborhood Service Providers
Home Related Providers | Average Tip/Gift | Mode*(Most frequently mentioned amount) |
House cleaner | $115 |  $ 100 |
Superintendent | $114 | $100 |
Occasional Babysitter | $80 | $50 |
Daytime Doorman | $77 | $50 |
Nighttime Doorman | $70 |  $50 |
Dog Walker | $76 | $100 |
Porter | $67 | $50 |
Parking Attendant | $55 |  $50 |
United States Postal Service Mail carrier | $25 | $20 |
Package Delivery (United Parcel Service, FedEx) | $27 | $20 |
New York Sanitation Department Garbage/Truck Recycling | $24 | $20 |
 TOTAL | $729 | -- |
K-12 teachers*
Three in four (77%) give as part of a class gift to their k-12 teachers. One in four (23%) give individually.
Type of Teacher | Average Tip/Gift | Mode |
Preschool/Daycare Head Teacher | $63 | $50 |
Preschool/Daycare Secondary Teacher | $47 | $25 |
K-12 teacher* | $39 | $20 |
Special Services teacher | $39 | $25 |
Afterschool Service Providers | $37 | $25 |
NOTE: Department of Education Policy does not mandate an amount for parents to give to K-12 teachers but indicates that the names of everyone in class must be on the class gifts.
*See more about holiday gifts, the do’s and don’ts as well as making it easy on the Park Slope Parents’ website page, How to Thank Teachers at the Holidays & End of the Year.
Nannies
- The vast majority of employers (86%) use the holidays as an appropriate opportunity to give what they determine as a yearly bonus and gifts.
- Nanny year-end gifts have increased an average of $92 from last year, with nannies working more than 40 hours making almost $175 more than 2014.
- The average end of year bonus a nanny will receive is $724.
- 60% give a week’s pay, 18% give two week’s pay, and 22% give an amount unrelated to pay. The 2015 Nanny Survey also showed an increase in average pay which is reflected in reported year end gifts.
- The personal touch for nannies happens in Brooklyn, with 37% also a non-monetary gift as well as a bonus and one in five kids also make a gift for their nanny.
Nanny Situation | Average Amount 2015 | Average Amount 2014 |
OVERALL Nanny | $724* | $623 |
Full time (over 40 hours/week) (53% of respondents) | $832 | $1005 |
Part-time (16-40 hours) (28% of respondents) | $487 | $597 |
Part-time (up to 15 hours) (19% of respondents) | $241 | $167 |
Range $35-$3,000.
METHODOLOGY
425 responses were collected from December 2rd - December 15th, 2015 via an online survey program (surveymonkey.com). The survey was distributed online through the Park Slope Parents website, their email groups and social media outlets, online blogs, and other online parenting/ neighborhood groups. The results are based on tips and gifts in Brooklyn only.
