NYC Nannies Built an Underground Care Economy That Should Inspire US Policy

I first learned about the New York City nannies’ radical mutual aid efforts through conversations with Gloria — a warm, deeply caring and maternal woman. At the time, she was living in the Bronx, New York, while working as a nanny for a family on the wealthy Upper West Side of Manhattan. Gloria (who asked to be identified using a pseudonym to protect her from the risk of employment retaliation), fit the demographic of many of the caregivers in the neighborhood: Most were older, Black or Latine and/or immigrant women, caring for children of white, upper middle-class families.

This labor dynamic mirrors a nationwide trend. Of the 2.2 million domestic workers in the United States, 91.5 percent are women, and 52.4 percent are Black, Latine or Asian American/Pacific Islander. Two in five domestic workers are aged 50 or older (40.2 percent), which is true for just one-third of all other workers (33.7 percent).

In the mornings, Gloria rose before the break of dawn and trekked across boroughs to the home of the family for whom she worked. She hoped her own son, a high school student, would wake up in time for class. She arrived before her bosses had their first cup of coffee, going straight to the kitchen to prepare breakfast and lunch for the children. No easy feat, she always managed to get the youngest, a 6-year-old girl I will call Mira (also a pseudonym), out of bed. Gloria readied everyone for the day, packed their bags and schlepped them off to their school down the street.