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I am curious...what is the going rate around the U.S. for babysitting
these days. We have had babysitters and sometimes, I feel like I
am paying them too much (they act all shocked when I give them
their money) but I don't want to pay them too little. I don't want to
offend them and have them not want to come back...
Thanks to the parents and teens on this site for your input!
Well, now whenI babysitI don't get paid because it's usually for friends or family, but back in the day (the 90's) when I was babysitting a lot, I would usually charge about 5$ an hour- which at the time was almost a 1.50 below minimum wage here. If I did housekeeping (ie- you came home to a clean house when you didnt exactly leave with one- dishes done, laundry done and folded, kids room picked up, etc) I expected a little more.
But we're talking about 1992-1998 here; I'm sure times have changed...
*amber*
i would say, depending on the age, about $8 hr.for someone between 14-16and around $10 hr.for someone older. any more than that is a bit much since you figure all they're doing is just keeping an eye on the kids to make sure they don't kill themselves. that seems typical and if you figure in how much is costs to send a child to daycare, the daycare really only costs about $8-9 an hour.
I am sixteen, and for me it depends on a number of factors. (Get ready!!) I feel bad to ask for too much money, so i tend to be on the lower end of the spectrum. First:
<UL>
<LI>How many kids does the person have?? Usually I start with about eight dollars an hour, and add one dollar for more than two kids. Ex: 3 kids, nine dollars, and so on. </LI>
<LI>Have I babysat for this person before? If I haven't, I won't add on more money for each kid until I establish a good rapport with them. So, I usually charge eight an hour until I know them well.</LI>
<LI>Also, if I have a tough time with the kids, I will tell the parents what happened. If the next time it happens again, I may start raising the price because it gets very difficult. (this is rare.)</LI>[/list]
Lol now after that spiel, this is my advice: Ask the babysitter what she normally charges. If, after a while, she feels as if she would like to raise the price, she will probably bring it up and you can negotiate, or if you feel that she is doing a good job you can say that you would like to give her more money. Right now, since the minimum wage is going up, i'm probably going to be raising my prices a little bit.
Hope I helped! Sorry if i didn't.
<3 Anya--
Seems like I am right on. I usually do $8.00-$10.00 and hour.
Thanks for your input everyone!
Yeah that seems fair. I would also factor in whether this is evening as well. I hated to charge too much when I actually onlly watched the kids for an hour or 2 before bed. It was homework time after that or TV or whatever it was easy for any time after.
Yeah, it is pretty easy in the evening. However, if you do come back a lot later than you said you would, I would pay a bit more. One time the parents had said that they would be home at ten, and they ended up coming home at 2 AM drunk, so I had to call my parents to get me, and they didn't pay me anything extra or even say sorry.
<3 Anya--