2016 Holiday Tips Survey: The Results are IN!

Categories:: Gifts and Tipping Holidays and Special Events Christmas

Here are the key findings from the annual Park Slope Parents Holiday Tips Survey:

The more the merrier - or poorer? Having a full-time nanny, dog walker, parking attendant and living in a doorman building with a super will cost you roughly $1500 extra if you tip the average amount as holiday gifts this holiday season.
You can’t go wrong with a personal touch. One in three (35%) are giving something more than cash (homemade cookies, treats, wine) to their service providers.
Power in numbers. Three out of four parents with kids in K-12 students contribute an average of $20 towards the class gift in lieu of gifting individually.
For daycare/preschool, you can’t go wrong with $50 for the head teacher and $25 for the secondary teacher(s). Six in ten (58%) families with kids in daycare/preschool give monetary gifts individually over a class gift.
For nannies, the standard holiday bonus is a week’s pay.
Caveat: If your nanny hasn’t been working a year then you can give less (e.g., ½ week’s pay if they worked only 3 months) but do let the nanny know if you plan on giving more next year.

DETAILED FINDINGS:

Personal Neighborhood Service Providers:

Home Related Providers	Average Tip/Gift	Mode(Most frequently mentioned amount)*
Superintendent	$116	$100
House Cleaner	$98	$100
Daytime Doorman	$90	$100
Dog Walker	$90	$100
Occasional Babysitter	$77	$50
Nighttime Doorman	$77	$100
Porter	$67	$50
Parking Attendant	$62	$50
Hair Stylist	$61	$50
Package Delivery (United Parcel Service, FedEx)	$36	$20
USPS Mail Carrier	$28	$20
New York Sanitation Department Garbage/Truck Recycling	$26	$20
TOTAL	$729	--

Daycare, Preschool, and K-12 Teachers:

Three in four (78%) give as part of a class gift to their K-12 teachers. One in four (22%) give individually. K-12 teachers typically receive $20 per family. Some parents use websites and apps like Frumus, Venmo, Payit2 and Signup Genius to organize and pool donations.

Type of Teacher	Average Tip/Gift	Mode
Preschool/Daycare Head Teacher	$60	$50
Preschool/Daycare Secondary Teacher	$44	$25
K-12 Teacher*	$37	$20
Special Services Teacher	$49	$50
Afterschool Service Providers	$28	$25

NOTE: It is not the case that Department of Education K-12 teachers cannot receive gifts. Department of Education policy states: “Teachers may accept class gifts as long as parents are not asked to contribute more than a small amount of money towards the gift and all parents are given an opportunity to sign the card, whether or not they contribute to the gift.”

*Learn more about holiday gifts for teachers, including do’s and don’ts, in the Park Slope Parents’ website article, How to Thank Teachers at the Holidays & End of the Year.

Nannies:

The vast majority of employers (99%) use the holidays as an opportunity to give a yearly bonus and gifts.
82% of employers give amounts incremental to a week’s pay. Of these, 77% give a week’s pay, 21% give two week’s pay, and 2% give three week’s pay.
The average end-of-year bonus a nanny will receive is $760.
A third (35%) of Brooklyn families with a nanny also give a non-monetary gift as well as a bonus.

Nanny Situation	Average Amount 2016	Average Amount 2015	Average Amount 2014
Full time (over 40 hours/week) (59% of respondents)	$969	$832	$1005
Part-time (16-40 hours) (30% of respondents)	$540	$487	$597
Part-time (up to 15 hours) (10% of respondents)	$284	$241	$167
OVERALL Average for Nanny	$760	$724*	$623

Range $25-$3,000.

METHODOLOGY:

507 responses were collected from November 29th - December 13th, 2016 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.

ABOUT PARK SLOPE PARENTS:

Park Slope Parents (PSP) is a community in Brooklyn, NY of more than 5,500 local families who offer each other support and community throughout the parenting experience.
PSP online resources include a public website with member reviews and parenting advice, online forums including an Advice List (exchanging information about parenting and community issues), a Classifieds list (a local buy/sell/trade group for swapping kid gear and finding nannies), and a Career Networking Group which connects parents to jobs and professional resources. It also has over 75 subgroups including pregnancy and new parent groups, dads’ group, working moms, bilingual groups, industry-related career groups, and more.
PSP offers offline, in-person events including parenting workshops, clothing swaps, community fundraisers, and networking events.
PSP also partners with nonprofits such as the Brooklyn Family Justice Center and Little Essentials to provide donations to those in need.
PSP also sponsors community events such as the Celebrate Brooklyn Concerts and Brooklyn Volunteer Fair.
Park Slope Parents is open to all parents in Brooklyn and requires an annual membership fee of $40 (to support ongoing services like this Holiday Tips Survey). Membership includes discounts to more than 1,000 local products and services.
Parents who live in Park Slope or the surrounding neighborhoods can apply for membership here.

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