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Skim the following article to get a general idea of what it is about. Choose the summary that best expresses the overall idea of the reading. Then read the article all the way through.

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The Business of Caring

In their novel The Nanny Diaries, Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus give readers a behind-the-scenes look into the world of New York nannies. The book follows a series of comic events involving Nanny, a New York University student who cares for Grayer, the son of a Park Avenue socialite named Mrs. X. While Mrs. X is busy impressing her Park Avenue friends and Mr. X is off earning millions, Nanny finds herself stuck in a low-paying job. She is mistreated by her employer and stays only because of her devotion to Grayer. How long will it be before Mrs. X's disrespect and mistreatment become too much for Nanny?

Both McLaughlin and Kraus, the authors of the book, had worked as nannies for rich families on the posh Upper East Side of New York. They drew from their own experiences when they wrote The Nanny Diaries. One reader calls The Nanny Diaries "required reading for parents and the women they hire to do their parenting." Another reader remarks, "This was such an entertaining book, sad, but entertaining. One does wonder why some people bother having children if they don't want to raise them." In the book, the authors parody the rich but empty world of Mrs. X, yet Nanny herself comes from a well-to-do background. She stays in the job not only for the love of Grayer, but because she, too, wants to be able to buy nice things and designer clothes. Miramax has already purchased the film rights for the book, and the famous actress Julia Roberts has recorded the audio version. All this might make Nanny's world seem exciting, but the truth of domestic service is much less glamorous. The problems that real New York nannies face are often far more serious than those of the novel's protagonist.

Among the injustices suffered by domestic workers are low wages, lack of job security, and bad working conditions. About 98% of domestic workers (including nannies, housekeepers, and home aides) are women, most of them women of color, many of them immigrants. Some domestic workers have claimed workdays as long as 18 hours and salaries of as little as $250 per month. In the United States, half of child care providers surveyed in the year 2000 earned under $4.82 an hour and worked an average of 55 hours a week, according to the nonprofit Center for the Child Care Workforce in Washington, D.C. Paid vacations, personal days, and health care are rare. Many of the illegal immigrants working as nannies are afraid to fight for their rights. Other immigrant workers, both legal and illegal, find themselves isolated by cultural and language barriers, mistreated by their employers, and unprotected by the government. In New York, an immigration center, immigrants make up the majority of domestic workers. The domestic workers in the city have only recently begun to unite and demand laws to protect their interests.

Why is it that the work which should be the most important―that of caring for our children - is so undervalued? One thing that makes child-care work complicated is the relationship caregivers have with the children they care for. Even though child care is "just a job," it is very hard to think of it that way when you are responsible for a young person's life. A caregiver and her charge become attached, and personal emotions get in the way. For this reason, many domestics work overtime without extra pay, or they put up with unfair treatment from employers - because they are thinking of the welfare of the child. Other domestics find that they are included in family activities and treated well, yet at the end of the day are always reminded that they are employees doing a job. For many women, this experience can feel demeaning. Finally, the ability to care for children is often taken for granted. Many parents take advantage of undocumented immigrants, offering free room or board (but no pay) in return for child care and housekeeping. Even government officials are guilty of this practice. In 1993, Zoe Baird, the nominee for U.S. attorney general, lost the nomination when it was discovered that she wasn't paying social security tax for her domestic help. Ironically, Linda Chavez, George W. Bush's choice for secretary of labor, was found harboring an illegal immigrant. The woman lived with Chavez in exchange for doing household chores. Chavez denies paying the woman. Her behavior leads us to the question: What's worse, paying an illegal immigrant or not paying someone who is working hard to provide a service?

On the flip side, families that employ domestic workers point out that it is hard to support a family and pay another person a living wage - about $20,000 a year. Many families who don't have day care available to them hire nannies as a cheap alternative. These families can't afford to pay for health care or vacations on top of a salary. But what lies at the crux of the matter is what scholars see as society's belief that domestic labor is easy and therefore not worthy of high pay. Because caring for children is such intimate work, it is thought of as effortless - one of the natural talents of women. Therefore it is often not recognized as a legitimate job. In a time when both parents work and child care is often left in the hands of strangers, parents should stop and consider how hard raising a child really is and what their children and their nannies deserve.


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	A)	In the United States, most mothers need to find nannies to take care of their children while they are at work. They pay the nannies low wages and don't provide them with benefits because they don't appreciate the value of good child care.
	B)	In the United States, and especially in New York, many women work as domestics, such as housekeepers or nannies. They are often underpaid, mistreated, and their work is undervalued. Many of these women are immigrants who don't know about their rights under U.S. law. Others stay in the job for the love of the children they care for.
	C)	In New York City, many mothers hire nannies to take care of their children. Usually they treat these nannies as part of the family. However, a few are underpaid and mistreated. These women are mostly immigrants who don't know about their rights under U.S. law.

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