How much to pay a teenager for an hour of babysitting?

mum2one

I would say £5.00 an hr, then if everything goes ok, you can always increase it next time and keep to the new rate, or at the end of the evening add a bit extra in as a thank you, - if that was me I would be really pleased and feel appriciated.
x

liney

It sounds like the OP is asking for a per hour rate as the girl will be baby sitting on a regular basis, as opposed to just one hour as she is compareing the work to the Saturday job she does.

I would pay her £4 per hour, and provide transport home of it is after 9pm when she finishes. Provide food/drink/use of the internet. If she has to put small children to bed, i might bung her a extra £5 for her trouble.

Have you discussed this with her at all? Perhaps she has a figure in mind already.

Strapped

Partly depends where you live & how many/ages of kids - market forces and all that. When we lived in the South East we paid £5 phr + £5 "for coming" (to cover travel etc and so that a short visit would still be adequately paid - so in answer to your question, OP, for 1 hour we would pay £10). 2 kids, 3 and 5.

BUT we moved last year to the South West. We have had two different babysitters while here. The first was the daughter of a firend, who was 18, and she thought that we had deliberately "overpaid" her as we knew her mum, and knew she was saving up for a GAP year trip. (We didn't - we just paid what we were used to paying in the South East). Now, in this village, we use a local girl who is 16 but very grown up. She, once again, commented that we had paid her way too much We cut it down slightly the next time (although not by much, as we were home after midnight), but I think that we are probably still "generous" payers, because we had priority booking over Christmas and New Year :rotfl: So it's worth paying as much as you can reasonably afford. She only lives down the lane but we give her a lift home after dark too.

Obviously, it's also polite to leave out refreshments for the babysitter.

jellymid

Hello,
My 16 year old had been babysitting for neighbours for a year or so. The children are always in bed and she sits and watches sky - we don't have it so it' s a bit of a treat. They always leave food. They offered to pay £5 an hour when she was 15. Like yours, she is very capable and reliable but no qualifications.
However, mean mummy that I am, I negotiated them down to £3 per hour. Are you shocked? I felt that she wouldn't know what had hit her when she got a real job and had to 'work' for her money. However, as I expected, they go out more often now, and always give her a bit extra if they are out after 10. They always round up to the nearest hour, too, so she's doing really well out of it. She has developed quite a business and I'm very proud of her.

thriftmonster

We pay £10 an evening up to midnight and £15 an evening after midnight with a lift home (and collected if needed), tea, coffee, soft drinks available. I pay £10 whether it's 2.5 hrs or 4 hrs. The children are 8 and 12 and put themselves to bed - so all the babysitter has to do is watch TV with them and then do what they want once the kids are in bed.

For just 1 hour I would pay £5.

We have never had any problem finding babysitters at these rates.

HTH

mishmash

Just posted on the thread of "how much pocket money to give" and thought I was too generous-then saw this thread and I don't pay my teenagers for any of the sitting they do for their little sis. If I went of the £10 an hour rate my bill would be huge:D

ianian99

A fiver is sound. Lets face it if they were working they woul not get a fiver per hour

merlinormartin

I used to get £20 .. 8pm - 12.30-ish, sky tv, food & drink and i could have a "friend" sit with me ..easiest money i ever made ... that was about 8 years ago.

SmileBeHappy

I get about £8 an hour

An evening of 8-10.30 can fetch me £20 and an evening of 7.30-11.30 can fetch me £30

The kids are no trouble, in bed fairly soon, i get food, drink, and they have sky tv...

Can't complain

I wouldn't work for £5 an hour....

PasturesNew

SmileBeHappy wrote: »

I get about £8 an hour

An evening of 8-10.30 can fetch me £20 and an evening of 7.30-11.30 can fetch me £30

The kids are no trouble, in bed fairly soon, i get food, drink, and they have sky tv...

Can't complain

I wouldn't work for £5 an hour....

Blimey. I want some of that. Which area do you live in?

Most full-time responsible/permanent jobs don't pay that much.