AIBU Babysitter always asks for lift home?

pebbles88

freeisgood wrote: »

Yes we are feeling resentful and taken advantage off a bit

Just either talk to her about it, don't go out, or find another sitter.

If you're happy with how she looks after your kids, it's not really a hardship for one of you to not have a drink, or pay for s taxi (reflecting the cost in her pay)
X

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

Bus fare to and from the OH's mum's place to town was £4.90 each way last time we were there (last buses were 9pm and 11pm, too - nothing at 10pm). It would be a bit of a waste of an evening to work for a takehome of £14 + £2 = £16 - £9.80 = £6.20. But a lift might make it worthwhile.

Fireflyaway

£7 an hour seems cheap ( below min wage as of now) especially as its antisocial hours and the responsibility of caring for kids. She might be living at home but its still not a lot of money. I think you have yourselves a better deal than she does.
I'd feel uncomfortable allowing a young woman to walk home late at night / in the dark. If this were me, I'd count myself lucky I had such a good deal and take her home or pay for a taxi for her. If you can't / won't, then just be upfront. Tell her you appreciate her service and really like her etc but when you go out you might want to have a drink / not have to go out again, so could she please make her own way home from now on.

Spendless

Jojo_the_Tightfisted wrote: »

Bus fare to and from the OH's mum's place to town was £4.90 each way last time we were there (last buses were 9pm and 11pm, too - nothing at 10pm). It would be a bit of a waste of an evening to work for a takehome of £14 + £2 = £16 - £9.80 = £6.20. But a lift might make it worthwhile.

How far away was that? We live 5 miles from our town centre and a return trip would be under a fiver buying a day saver.

There should be no need for the babysitter to catch the bus there. Either parent could go and get her. It's just taking her home means that one of them can't have an alcoholic drink.

tensandunits_2

Spendless wrote: »

How far away was that?

I was wondering that myself. Not being a motorist, I've used buses all my life, and I've never paid £4.90 just for a single fare. A return or day saver would be cheaper than two single fares, too.

More to the point, the woman's 24, not 14. She either needs to learn to drive or factor in the cost of getting to and from her places of work, and charge accordingly.

onomatopoeia99

tensandunits wrote: »

I was wondering that myself. Not being a motorist, I've used buses all my life, and I've never paid £4.90 just for a single fare. A return or day saver would be cheaper than two single fares, too.

Being a motorist who rarely takes the bus, I always pay more than £4.90. For me, a single from home to the city centre was £6.50 the last time I needed a bus

tensandunits_2

onomatopoeia99 wrote: »

a single from home to the city centre was £6.50 the last time I needed a bus

Is it a long way? A day saver is £5 here, and I live in a fairly expensive area.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

Spendless wrote: »

How far away was that? We live 5 miles from our town centre and a return trip would be under a fiver buying a day saver.

There should be no need for the babysitter to catch the bus there. Either parent could go and get her. It's just taking her home means that one of them can't have an alcoholic drink.

About 6 miles, I think. Cab fares were high, too, as they knew how expensive and infrequent the buses were Here, a single costs £1.50 (and cab fare for that distance would be just over minimum fare of around £6.50), but I suppose it's easy to forget how fortunate some are in having regulated bus fares. I still wouldn't really want to come home having been left with just over a tenner for dealing with somebody's tired and fractious kids for an evening, even with the cheaper fares here; I used to earn a tenner babysitting the three kids that lived next door for a couple of hours on a Friday evening, thirty years ago - I think inflation has considerably lessened the value of being able to go out without sprogs in tow.

Bogof_Babe

I'd say £7 an hour is quite generous, considering her "duties" will mainly be watching TV or playing on her phone most of the time, using someone else's heating, and perhaps checking on the child/ren every hour or so. It's hardly onerous work, and she wouldn't get much more for waitressing or bar work.

paddedjohn

Having read this thread I see a few posters saying that the OP should pay the childminder the minimum wage, the new minimum is £7.50 but that is for 25yrs and over, the childminder is only 24