Going rate for a sitter?

Culkinator54

Just to give perspective for our area here in the tornadic Midwest, we pay $2.50 an hour.  What would you expect to pay someone for 3-4 hours on a Saturday evening?

ETA:  $2.50 an hour is for our daycare provider.

slmcronelaw

I would pay at least $20 for that amount of time

abbzy85

$2.50 for a babysitter?? How is that worth someone's time? I can't imagine paying someone less than $20, at the least!

Culkinator54

abbzy85:

$2.50 for a babysitter?? How is that worth someone's time? I can't imagine paying someone less than $20, at the least!

Clearly I got ADD in my OP.  I meant to say we pay our daycare provider $2.50 an hour.  We need someone for a few hours on the weekend, and I was thinking $4-5 an hour was good.  No?

MAtoNC

Is there a decimal in the wrong place there or something? I pay a young college student $8.00 and that is cheap for this area (which has a low cost of living to begin with!). We pay $10.00 an hour for an experienced daycare provider who babysits for us on occasion.

Culkinator54

MAtoNC:

Is there a decimal in the wrong place there or something? I pay a young college student $8.00 and that is cheap for this area (which has a low cost of living to begin with!). We pay $10.00 an hour for an experienced daycare provider who babysits for us on occasion.

Nope, our DCP is licensed, and she charges us $100 a week for full time care.

Christina79

When I babysat 10 years ago, I made $10 an hour for 1 child. I can't imagine paying $2.50/hour. I would pay at least minimum wage, whatever that is in your area.

KatieAnne918

Just paid a driving, college grad $10/hr.  Then tipped a bit.  I want the babysitter to want to come back. 

8-10/hr is the norm around here.

lifesadance

4 years ago, as a nanny in Northern IL, I made $8-10 an hour ($8 with one family where I cared for a 3-9 month old baby, $10 for the other where I cared for a 5-yr. old and transported her to pm kindergarten).  I live in Central IL now and would plan to pay about $8/hour at a minimum.  The cost of living is pretty low here too.

You have a HECK OF A DEAL going with FT day care for $100/week.  We looked into it here and it is about $1000/month on average.  DH stays home instead.

Tip: Don't ever move!  )   

Culkinator54

See, I thought $8-9 would be the norm.  I posted of craigslist to find people to interview asking them to send their rate of pay with response, and 4 out of 5 said $4-5.

Megan7575

I pay $10 an hour for two kids.

e-bridetobe

NYC... Going rate is $15-$20 plus cab fare home after 9PM.... You ladies are very lucky!

octwed07

Culkinator54:

MAtoNC:

Is there a decimal in the wrong place there or something? I pay a young college student $8.00 and that is cheap for this area (which has a low cost of living to begin with!). We pay $10.00 an hour for an experienced daycare provider who babysits for us on occasion.

Nope, our DCP is licensed, and she charges us $100 a week for full time care.

$100/wk is really inexpensive!  She either is fine financially, or is not charging enough.  Anyway, if she has other kids she's taking care of, then she's not really just making $2.50/hr. If she has multiple kids, she's making a several hundred dollars weekly which makes more sense.   If you're hiring a sitter who is only watching your child, i would think you'd want to pay a bit more.  For a high school kid, you can probably get away with the $4-5/hr charge, but i would think a licensed professional would want at least min wage. 

Culkinator54

octwed07:

Culkinator54:

MAtoNC:

Is there a decimal in the wrong place there or something? I pay a young college student $8.00 and that is cheap for this area (which has a low cost of living to begin with!). We pay $10.00 an hour for an experienced daycare provider who babysits for us on occasion.

Nope, our DCP is licensed, and she charges us $100 a week for full time care.

$100/wk is really inexpensive!  She either is fine financially, or is not charging enough.  Anyway, if she has other kids she's taking care of, then she's not really just making $2.50/hr. If she has multiple kids, she's making a several hundred dollars weekly which makes more sense.   If you're hiring a sitter who is only watching your child, i would think you'd want to pay a bit more.  For a high school kid, you can probably get away with the $4-5/hr charge, but i would think a licensed professional would want at least min wage. 

That's an excellent point.  I never thought of it like that.  Yes, she is well off financially and really just enjoys watching kids, but there is DD and 3 other kids, so I suppose she really makes $10 an hour.  Thanks for that perspective!

slmcronelaw

Culkinator54:

MAtoNC:

Is there a decimal in the wrong place there or something? I pay a young college student $8.00 and that is cheap for this area (which has a low cost of living to begin with!). We pay $10.00 an hour for an experienced daycare provider who babysits for us on occasion.

Nope, our DCP is licensed, and she charges us $100 a week for full time care.

This is the same amount I pay and I actually pay her more than she asked.  She only charges $85.00/week but I was expecting to pay at least $100, so that's what we pay her. And, she watches Leighton from 8 to 5 m-f

Culkinator54

slmcronelaw:

Culkinator54:

MAtoNC:

Is there a decimal in the wrong place there or something? I pay a young college student $8.00 and that is cheap for this area (which has a low cost of living to begin with!). We pay $10.00 an hour for an experienced daycare provider who babysits for us on occasion.

Nope, our DCP is licensed, and she charges us $100 a week for full time care.

This is the same amount I pay and I actually pay her more than she asked.  She only charges $85.00/week but I was expecting to pay at least $100, so that's what we pay her. And, she watches Leighton from 8 to 5 m-f

She watched DD 9:30-5, so pretty similar.  She also said we don't have to pay when she doesn't come, but we do.

What do you pay a sitter?

ncavitt

Culkinator54:

See, I thought $8-9 would be the norm.  I posted of craigslist to find people to interview asking them to send their rate of pay with response, and 4 out of 5 said $4-5.

Your're going to find your sitter on craigslist?  is that a wise decision? are you going to do a background check?  i hope so!!!!  

amesinholland

We are in West Michigan and pay $8-$10 per hour for a weekend/nighttime babysitter.

GraceOMally

I just hired an occasional mother's helper 14 years old for $8/hr.  A babysitter for the evening I would expect to pay no less than $10 and probably more like $13/hr.  $8 is under our minimum wage but not by too much.

We are just outside Seattle.