Babysitting... official MoneySavingExpert.com discussion

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I'm really interest in doing this as I work with children in my day job have crb and degree in early years, I have signed up with a couple of local agencies so will see what occurs!!

emylou

What do any of you do regarding declaring the income babysitting gives you if you are with an agency?

Thanks for your help. I am with a very good reliable agency if anyone wants their details- I have never had any problems with the agency or the families

Dinah93

Hi emylou, is it a national agency you are with or what area is it in? If it covers Cleveland/County Durham I'd love their details.

eeyoreems

I work in a childcare setting as a supervisor and have been working for over 10 years i do a bit of babysitting and i would be suprised if any one gave me anytihng less than a fiver i normally say bout £6-7 an hour and most people are happy to pay that

psuedy

Used to get £20 a night for looking after the neighbours children. Think it depends on the age, length of time out and how generous you are feeling!

Glittermonkey

I was lucky as a teen and always seemed to have a steady supply of babysitting jobs. Would get about £10-£20 per night and most times a takeaway and the cab are home depending where I was.

Looking back though, some of the ones I looked after were still only babies and as a parent, wouldn't dream of leaving someone that age with a baby. I dont think I'd have a teen look after my 7 year old tbh.

My best job was through a hotel near me. I'd be paid £8 per hour before 12am, £12 after plus Cab fare home. One baby wouldn't settle so the parents paid for me to join them for dinner in the hotel, full nights pay and my cab home.

XxXfashionqueenXxX

Guys if you've been paied £5 recently thats under the min wage its definitly over £5.50 i think its £5.75

StacFace

It's £5.80 for over 21s but for anyone younger than that it's less (£4.83 for 18-21s and £3.57 for 16-17s above school leaving age).

But unless you work for a company supplying babysitters as an employee (not a contractor) then these rules don't apply. The minimum wage is only applicable to employees, if you are a self-employed contractor or just self-employed then you are paid for the job, not per hour, and there is no law saying how much you must be paid.

pipsi_2

I run my own nanny agency and i think a lot fo you are selling yourself short. I would never charge a client less than £8 per hour for a babysitter, i sometimes do shifts myself and charge anywhere from £8 to £14 per hour depending on the ages and number of children. I have a CRB check, i'm qualified in paediatric first aid and i'm also on the OFSTED register. All of my members of staff are also trained in paediatric first aid and also have a CRB, some have childcare qualifications but in my opinion nothing is better than experience, i'd much rather employ someone who has raised their own children than someone who is fresh out of college with a piece of paper 'qualifying' them to work with children. My clients will usually leave something in the fridge for the babysitter (eg a pizza, left overs) or leave money for a take away. I usually stipulate that my workers must drive but if it's someone local to the family, the father would usually walk the babysitter home if it wasn't 100% safe to walk alone.

I often get calls from people looking for a babysitter and sometimes get people thinking that my rates are expensive, they are usually the people who want to pay someone £20 + a pizza for a night's babysitting, if they want that sort of arrangement they're better off getting a responsible teenager who they know, my babysitters all have first aid, CRB check and some are OFSTED registered and some have qualifications. All have liability insurance! Yes, my staff may be more expensive but at least the family can rest assured that they person looking after their children has been properly checked and has things like first aid training. Few of the most responsible teenagers will know what to do in an emergency. Also worth noting that most of my members of staff are university educated so can offer some element of tutoring for older children too.

Browntoa

do not send personal details to ANYONE on the fourm for your own (and you childrens ) safety !!