I asked her what she charges and she said, "Oh, whatever."
I asked her mom what she charges and she said, "Oh, whatever."
Not really helpful.
I remember there was a lady that I loved to babysit for who used to pay me (and this was back in the day) something like $10 bucks an hour. When I told her that was WAY too much, she told me it wasn't...that really, because I was taking care of her most precious possessions that it probably wasn't enough. But then there was the one lady who only paid be $2.00 bucks for the whole 5 hours I was there because "her children were sleeping most of the time."
MMmmm, who would have thought that babysitting wages could be such a quandary. Any suggestions? What do you pay your babysitters...
10 comments:
Back in the day $2 an hour per kid was a good job I had one family pay minimum wage which was great. I don't know what the going rate is now a days! I'll be following this one!!
I never got paid that great! I babysat one boy every wednesday for about 4 or 5 hours and was paid $12. Then every friday I was paid $10 for 3 boys for 3 hours. So I think I wish I was babysitting your kids!
There is a girl in my ward that charges $3 an hour for one child. Then an additional $1.50 for each additional kid.
I'd say since she's a YW $5/hr is just about plenty. I had a lady who paid me $10/hr too but she was super loaded and I never got paid more than $7/hr for babysitting until I was 18.
I asked arond quite a bit before I first started getting ward babysitters. I was told the going rate around here is $2 per hour per kid. I usually round that up and spend about $5 per hour. I also pay a little extra if my house isn't left in shambles when I get home.
Kiersti
Ok, I've gotten ragged on in my ward because I'm told I pay my babysitters too much and it kind of annoys the other moms. I pay $5/hour and then extra if it is either last minute or they've done any cleaning while I was gone. The going rate in my neighborhood seems to be about $2/hour for the first kid, and then an additional $1/hour for more kids (which would mean I only pay $3/hour). I also pay more to an older babysitter. I would suggest finding out what the other moms in your neighborhood pay because my experience is that if you pay too much they feel preassured to pay more and can end up resenting you.
Oh I feel your pain! Even as a babysitter this was hard to figure out. When I would babysit, I'd always answer "whatever" too. But I found that moms would often overpay me instead of pay me too little. Sadly, I never did find a solution, but by the time I got to be good at babysitting, $5 an hour was an average/fair amount.
Chloe
WOW, I hate paying for babysitting. The more kids the more expensive. I rarely pay a sitter and when I do, it's usually $2 an hour per kid, for 4 kids that's $8 an hour, I would barely make that if I was working. Occasionally I will get some girls in the ward and they are good to do it for $5 an hr, but I feel cheap so I rely on family or SWAP. We have some great friends that swap with us and it helps a TON!!! I miss having the twins around, they were my sitters for pretty much free, they got to eat out of my pantry and play the PS3, but we also tried to go out when the kids were asleep. Good Luck!
So...I don't babysit and I don't pay for babysitting (thanks mom, dad and stepmom, and in-laws!), but, my sister is 16 and babysits quite frequently. She doesn't have a regular job, but she could if she wanted to, therefore, she asks for minimum wage, regardless of number of children. I feel she can leverage this argument because she is old enough to work, so this might not be helpful if you are hiring 12-14 year olds. I think that your $7/hour is just right.
I have done a lot of asking around--the going rate in our neighborhood is $2.00 an hour per child until you hit around minimum wage. I usually tip them a few extra if my house is really clean when i get home. Good luck. I am sure that YW was really happy to get paid that! :)
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