Wall Street Journal: When the Going Gets Tough, Some People Lay Off the Nanny

Her employers, she explains, "have busy lives" that include volunteering at school, going to the gym, visiting the chiropractor and getting various beauty treatments, like facials, manicures and pedicures.
Later this month, however, this household chief operating officer will fall victim to downsizing. She says her employers tearfully informed her that her $1,000-a-week position is being eliminated. "They told me they had to cut expenses 75%," says Ms. Jacobo, whose employer declined to be interviewed. "I am heartbroken."
People unaccustomed to doing their own housework are dealing with dirty laundry and mowing their own lawns