Six-Figure Nannies Take Home Big Bucks

July 21, 2009— -- Don't call Autumn Backman a nanny. A lean, high-energy brunette, she speaks French, a bit of German, graduated magna cum laude from a respectable East Coast university and has lived in Vienna and Monte Carlo. "I'm more of a governess," she says.

With 15 years in the business, Backman's primary goal is to bring "a whole new level of adventure to the children's lives." That might mean heading to Central Park to find the "forest" where there are wild brambles, or hitting up the Museum of Natural History for a bit of imaginary time travel. "For them it's very exciting," she says. "My joy is to bring joy and play to the child." But there's also scheduling doctor's appointments and inculcating good manners, "It's about raising a good citizen," she says.

Backman belongs to a special breed of domestic servants. An elite nanny today can't just be a passive grandma figure who keeps the kids safe and fed. She must be well-educated, personable, travel easily in any type of society, and is usually very fit. Poor health choices would be a bad influence on the children.

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"That's why you're paid that," says Claudia Kahn, chief executive of the Help Company, a Los Angeles-based agency that places nannies, butlers and other domestic workers with the world's rich. While a spiffy resume is key, "attitude to me is important to me as anything," says Kahn. "They have to say yes to any wishes that are given to them."

The difference between what uber-nannies rake in and what the average caretaker makes echoes the spread between their respective employers. The average full-time caregiver--there are some 1.2 million nannies in the U.S. according to government data--earns $26,000 a year, basically minimum wage, according to Breedlove and Associates, a firm that helps some 6,500 families with the legal side of hiring domestic help.