I empathize, but I think if the situation bothers you enough to post about it on a forum, you're probably a little too emotionally invested in your nanny's personal life, and need to take a step back and keep your interactions with her to a more professional level. Assigning blame for her financial situation is impossible to do without knowing more about her personal relationship with her mom than any employer with an appropriate set of boundaries should. I can't imagine any possible circumstance in which the answer to that question should have any effect on your life or your employer/nanny relationship. If her emotional state isn't affecting her work with your kids, say you're sorry to hear that, and change the subject. MAYBE refer her to the forum. If it is, you have a hard choice to make about whether or not you want to keep her on, but unless you're interested in addressing her situation by offering her a live-in position, I think your ability to influence the situation is probably pretty limited.
