Babysitting pay

Doubletrouble12

Hi! I'm sure this has been asked before, but what do you consider a fair amount for babysitting per hour?

It would usually be evenings like 8pm till Midnight, so they wouldn't be actually watching any kids

bc they would already be in bed.  If it is earlier in the evening and they are still awake there are twins that are 2.  

Thanks!

ricekez

That depends on a whole lot of things, like where you live and how old the babysitter is.
In my LCOL area, $7-$10 for a high schooler, $10+ for a college kid or adult.

2chatter

I pay $10/hour regardless of which of the kids are home (10, 7 and 2).  Sometimes the 2 year old is asleep, sometimes it is just him, sometimes it's the 10 and 2 year old....sometimes it is all three kids, sometimes it is the two younger children who go to bed at the same time (7 PM). I use the same two sitters, so it all evens out, and I round up - so if I am gone 2.5 hours I pay for 3 hours. 

DH travels for work, and I have been traveling a fair bit myself, so we have been using the sitters for activity drop off and pick up coverage - say, 7:00 - 8:20 (DH paid $20 in that case - he was so grateful not to have to bring all three kids and then get two overtired kids to bed at the end of the ordeal). 

VOR

I agree, it depends.  But we tend to pay $10/ hour.

Your kids being awake or not actually doesn't play a role in this.  I've never understood that argument.  I'm really not paying someone to play w/ my kid as much as I'm paying someone to be in the house with him, make sure he's safe and for MY peace of mind. 

rubber_chicken

In my HCOL area, high school babysitters are getting about $15/hour.  College kids from care.com seem to be getting $20-25.

Man, I remember back in the day when I first started babysitting, I got $3/hour. 

MickeyM04

In our HCOL area, it's about $15 an hour.  I've never let anyone under the age of 21 watch my kids though.  I highly doubt I would pay a 12 year old that much; however, I would not trust a 12 year old to watch a 5 month old and a 2 year old.

I have to agree very much with @VOR.  Whether or not your kids are awake has nothing to do with what the babysitter is paid.  Obviously, none of us would go out at 8pm and leave our children home unattended just because they're asleep and there's nothing for anyone to actually do in terms of "watching" the kids.  The fact of the matter is, you need someone there for safety purposes and because let's be honest, small kids have nightmares/pee the bed/wake up in the middle of the night with fevers/etc.  Is it a "sweeter" babysitting job to have the kids be asleep all night?  Sure.  But it's not any less valuable to you as a parent to have someone there when your kids are asleep as opposed to when they are awake.

itsmevkb

We pay $15 for an adult to watch our four children.  That seemed to be the going rate here.  I'm just starting to let my nieces babysit (12 and 14) and I pay them a little less.

banks81

We just hired a high school girl to start occasional babysitting.  She charges a $12 flat rate plus $5 per hour.  She says $5 per hour for infant, so not sure how much she would charge if we had more than 1 LO.  So, assuming a typical 4 hour night, it would be $32, which equates to $8 per hour.  I expect we will usually round to the nearest 5 most nights, assuming we like her and everything goes well.

nolanova85

Our LO isn't here just yet, but we've asked around.  We live in a HCOL area.  I'm in my late 20's but have some just-out-of-college friends who still babysit sometimes to supplement their income.  They've told me they usually get $15 an hour for 1 kid and an additional $2-5 per hour per additional kid.  I'm hopeful that we may be able to find a neighborhood teenager who will be closer to the $10 an hour range.

minirella

I recently needed someone for 2 hours in the evening (first time in 4 years...normally I need someone while I work and pay a flat daily rate) but I paid her $12.50/an hour, basically $25. She is a college student. She's babysat for us for 2 years.

VOR

rubber_chicken said:

Man, I remember back in the day when I first started babysitting, I got $3/hour. 

I think I broke $2 by the time I was done w/ babysitting!  And I had one family stop using me because I raised my rates (I THINK) from $1.50 to $2!!

Doubletrouble12

Thanks for all the input! I think I was figuring a little low so this helped a lot. 

DallasHorn

This is a hot button issue for me as I think expectations are out of control. I'm in a suburb of Dallas and highschool sitters expect $12+ an hour. I don't pay that. I only pay $9/hr. My feeling is $9 tax free money and particularly when I'm having them come when the kids are asleep (and my kids are good sleepers) so most of their time is on the phone or watching tv.

 

minirella

DallasHorn....I agree with you. I have never asked a sitter what they make hourly. I have always told them, we will pay X and they can take it or leave it. We've had the same 2 sitters for over 2 years (a college student and a high school student as a back-up) and neither have ever turned down a job.

When people say they pay these high rates, I always wonder what they do for a living and how often they need that care because I wouldn't be able to afford it. My position might be a little different because if I need a sitter I usually need them to commit to all day, sometimes for multiple days and not a few hours a night here and there. I know someone on here told me that me paying a flat rate was unacceptable even though when broken down into an hourly wage, it was more than what she paid per child...so I really never understood how that was unacceptable.

I babysat in the 90's and told people they could pay me what they thought was fair. I was paid M&Ms once. I've also babysat for free before so a single mother could go on a weekend church retreat. She couldn't afford to pay me, I understood that, and it was just the right thing to do. I think that compassion still exists, it's just few and far between.