Domestic Workers Paying Families Table Hiring Nannies People

Hiring a "nanny" (a person, usually a young woman, who provides regular childcare inside a family's home, usually while the parents are working) is "out of the reach of" (too expensive for) most Americans, but many "wealthy" (rich; with a lot of money) families have nannies and other "domestic workers" (people who perform services in and around a home), such as cooks, housecleaners, "chauffeurs" (drivers), and gardeners. Technically, these domestic workers are employees, so the employer must report the payments to the government and pay a portion of the workers' taxes. However, this reporting is time-consuming and expensive, so some families choose to pay those workers "under the table" (illegally and in a hidden way, without informing the government).

For many years, the practice of paying domestic workers under the table was "commonplace" (common; not unusual) among wealthy families, but that changed in 1993 with "Nannygate" (named after Watergate, a political scandal discussed in English Café 280). Two of then-President Bill Clinton's choices for United States Attorney General were attacked for having paid nannies under the table, and the situation was made worse by the fact that their domestic workers were "undocumented workers" (illegal aliens; people working in the United States without permission to do so).

Members of the U.S. Congress were "outraged" (very angry) that this illegal action was so widespread, and the public was upset to learn that very "affluent" (wealthy), professional families were "getting away with" (having some advantage illegally without getting in trouble) receiving domestic help without paying taxes on it. The two individuals "in question" (in this case) were not chosen for the position, and "nominees" (people who have been named for a position but has not been approved yet) for that and other jobs had to "undergo" (experience) investigations into their hiring of "household help" (domestic workers).