Watch out Mary Poppins, the hurricane howling through the world's financial markets is starting to be felt in the rarefied world of the British nanny.

As bankers and money dealers fall like flies to a credit crunch that has seen three major US investment banks disappear in a puff of smoke, so the nannies they have employed on salaries of up to 40,000 pounds ($73,000) have suddenly become expensive luxuries.

"The problems are just starting. In the last week or two I have started getting calls from nannies saying one or both of their employers have lost their jobs and so they have too," said Kate Baker of Abbeville Nannies in south London.

"The past 12 to 18 months have been a golden era for nannies in London but we have noticed that in recent months pay rates have started to come down a bit, and now the jobs are going too," she added.

Thousands in the London financial district known as the City are either already out of a job or expected to be unemployed in the near future amid predictions that the global economic woes which began last year with the sub-prime shakeout will continue for many more months.

London, with its world financial hub, is the centre of the nanny trade in Britain, employing thousands of the surrogate mothers to care for their infants while they earn megabucks in the City.

The British nanny, epitomized by the fictional but magisterial Mary Poppins, has always been in demand around the world, and that is unlikely to change despite stiff competition from Eastern Europe.

"The market changed three or four years ago. The newly rich with eye-watering mortgages didn't come shopping for nannies in this country, they went to Eastern Europe," said Julie Bremner, owner of Knightsbridge Nannies.

"The nannies from there are cheaper but not nearly as good as ours," she added. "The whole world still comes to Britain shopping for the Great British Nanny."

But while she said she had not yet seen a flood of nannies looking for work, she too expected it come in the near future.

For Stacey Copeland, an administrator at Eden Nannies, the first whisperings of the gathering storm in the nanny state were already being felt.

"Normally at this time of the year we get a rush of people looking for nannies. But it hasn't happened yet," she said. "Pay rates have also started to come down in recent months."

"Nannies are among the first to be hit when times start to get tough. It has been a boom time for nannies in recent years, but that looks to be ending. Many of the people who employ nannies are bankers and they are suffering now," she added.

 

小心了，玛丽•波宾斯阿姨！全球的金融飓风已开始殃及英国的保姆市场！

猛烈的金融风暴使美国三大投行顷刻间灰飞烟灭，而很多银行家和货币经纪人也因此丢掉了工作，他们每年花4万英镑（7.3万美元）雇来的保姆一时间也成了昂贵的奢侈品。

位于伦敦南部的阿布维尔保姆中介结构的凯特•贝克说：“问题才刚刚开始。从上一两周开始，就有保姆打电话来说他们的一个雇主或者男女雇主都失业了，所以他们也失业了。”

她说：“过去的12至18个月是英国保姆业的黄金期，但我们注意到，最近几个月，保姆的薪水开始有所下降，而现在他们连工作也没了。”

全球金融风暴已导致伦敦“金融城”的数千人失业或者即将失业，有预测称，从去年开始由次贷危机引发的全球经济低迷还将持续较长一段时间。

作为全球金融中心的伦敦同时也是英国保姆交易的中心，许多忙着挣钱的金融界人士都雇佣保姆帮助他们照看孩子。

一直以来，英国保姆在世界各地都颇为抢手，即使面临东欧保姆的激烈竞争，这一点也不会改变。 小说（《欢乐玛丽》）中“专横”爱做主的玛丽•波宾斯阿姨就是英国保姆的一个缩影。

骑士桥保姆中介公司老板茱莉•布莱姆纳说：“保姆市场在三、四年前发生了变化，成为‘房奴’的新富阶层开始聘用东欧保姆。”

“他们的价格的确便宜，但远不如我们本国的保姆。目前世界各地还是对‘英国保姆’情有独钟。”

据她介绍，目前并没有很多保姆来她公司登记找工作，不过她预计不久后就会出现一阵保姆求职潮。

而伊甸园保姆中介公司的管理人员斯特茜•科普兰德则已经感受到了保姆市场上的风暴。

她说：“往年这个时候，都会有很多人来找保姆，而今年却是门可罗雀。近几个月来，保姆的工资也开始下降。”

“在经济不景气时期，保姆是首当其冲的受害者。近几年保姆业的兴盛局面似乎就要结束。很多用保姆的人都是银行从业者，而现在，他们已经自身难保。”