Said It Here

Do you have to tip or give holiday bonuses to daycare workers?

End-of-year holiday bonuses are common for nannies, but the norms for group daycares are much less clear to parents. While some families choose to give bonuses to offset low wages, others skip them because the cost of tuition already stretches their financial limits.

What people tried

Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.

  1. 1
    giving holiday or teacher appreciation gifts instead of bonuses
  2. 2
    giving cash or gift cards during holidays and teacher appreciation week
  3. 3
    contributing to a parent pool birthday or Christmas fund

In their words

Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.

r/Parenting2 people · September 2026

Is it normal to give bonuses at the EOY? Seems like it would be normal for nanny, but not sure what norm is at a daycare Is that normal? If so, any range of recommendations?source ↗

printallday · r/Parenting · 4 upvotes

We do not, no. I know others do and I know that the workers are underpaid, but it’s simply not in our means to give more than we’re already paying in tuition.source ↗

Rarecheeses843 · r/Parenting · 1 upvotes

Where this came up

People with this problem also raised