What to pay niece for a day of babysitting in summer?

SallyJean95 · June 2013

My DH freelances and my mom or his mom usually watches the kids. I asked if my niece would want to do it instead of the grandma's and she said ok. She's 15 btw and babysits her neighbors all the time. I have no idea what she gets.

She would have about a week's notice and her mom would drop her off in the morning and then pick her up after mom gets off of work. So she'd be there all day. DH is usually only gone for a few hours.

I have no idea what the going rate is. I also am hesitant to compare this to say a job on the weekend night to cover date night where it'd be by the hour because it's only a couple of hours, kwim?

What do you think would be fair? It'd be nice to have her do it but we can't be losing money on the deal because it's free for the grandma's to watch them and dh could always turn down the freelance work if it's not going to be lucrative.

she'd be watching two 4 year olds.

thanks!

cnderella83 · June 2013

$10 or $12 an hour is fair:) and they are her cousins. if it's less than 5 hours i'd give her at least $50. I used to basbysit my cousins when they were younger- I was 16 and they were 1 and 5 and i never got paid.

Mrs.RockyM · June 2013

What does she get per hour from her neighbors?

Helenahhandbasket · June 2013

I would probably be inclined to pay her around 50.00 for the day, but I honestly have no idea about the going rate of babysitters either.

jf198400 · June 2013

When I was in high school I babysat for a neighbor's daughter. The Grandmom was often home for part of the time, but I was there all day, and was paid hourly regardless of whether the Grandmom was there or not. I would still pay your neice the same hourly rate. I would probably pay about $8/hr. We have used babysitters for our 2 kids (ages 1 and 2) and usually pay about $10-12, but that is for older sitters- college students or friends/cousins that are like 25yrs. For a teenager I would pay less. Keep in mind, minimum wage is like $7.50/hr and babysitting is under the table money, so they are making out pretty good.

2chatter · June 2013

What will she be doing when your DH is present? As I suspect that she will end up entertaining your kids more than when he is gone, I would set a daily figure that makes sense to all of you. Something like $50 a day, and don't get into hours or schedules. Just too much hassle!

jf198400 · June 2013

mullenem:
I may be off but I feel like 50 is a lot...If I had two in DC at my inhome, it'd be 45.nbsp; So I'd pay a 15 yo 30 or maybe 40 for the day at most.nbsp; If you aren't comfortable asking the niece what she gets from the neighbors, maybe ask her mom what she gets?nbsp;

I disagree, babysitter in your own home is not comparable to inhome DC in someone else's home. If she is there for 8hrs and you only pay 40 that is 5 an hour. That's pretty low. I made that much babysitting for one kid like 10 years ago.

LoCarb · June 2013

jf198400:
When I was in high school I babysat for a neighbor's daughter. The Grandmom was often home for part of the time, but I was there all day, and was paid hourly regardless of whether the Grandmom was there or not. I would still pay your neice the same hourly rate. I would probably pay about $8/hr. We have used babysitters for our 2 kids (ages 1 and 2) and usually pay about $10-12, but that is for older sitters- college students or friends/cousins that are like 25yrs. For a teenager I would pay less. Keep in mind, minimum wage is like $7.50/hr and babysitting is under the table money, so they are making out pretty good.

I think along these lines too and agree with jfl198400

jmdahn · June 2013

She is a teenager...and this is extra cash- not the bread winning daycare provider. I pay $35 for 1 child in daycare and $55 for 2. When I was a teenager- I was paid like $3 per hour to babysit for family. I would pay about $35-40.

laurakaz13 · June 2013

mullenem:
I may be off but I feel like $50 is a lot...If I had two in DC at my in-home, it'd be $45. So I'd pay a 15 yo $30 or maybe $40 for the day at most. If you aren't comfortable asking the niece what she gets from the neighbors, maybe ask her mom what she gets?

Totally disagree. It may seem like a lot, but $10-15/hour is pretty much the going rate. It would be too little if she was there for more than 5 hours as well. Especially for 2 kids.

Of course this is just in my experience.

mmsall · June 2013

I have a 14 year old niece that babysits my one child. We pay her varied rates:

If she stays for the weekend and we're home, she's just there to keep LO occupied while we do a project or something then we give her $50 for the whole weekend. Or $25 a day. This is me still cooking, doing any responsible tasks, she's simply playing with him.

If we're not going to be home and she is entirely responsible for him, then she gets $40 for the day. That's never been more that 5 hours, so I guess that would be about $8-$10 an hour.

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