Typically, women in their 20s to 60's take up employment as nannies. Some are younger, though typically younger workers are nursemaids or au pairs rather than nannies in the traditional use of the term.

In the Seattle Nanny United Kingdom, the National Nursery Examination Board (NNEB) was founded in 1945 as the awarding shaft in qualifications for Nannies and nursery personnel. In 1994 the NNEB and the Council for Preceding Years Awards (CEYA) merged to form CACHE - The Council for Awards in Children's Care and Education, with their CACHE Level 3 Diploma in Child Care and Enlightenment providing the dope and undertstanding of child hike and inculcation needed to work as a Nanny.