Baby-Sitting

[Calee]

In high school and college (late 90's, early 2000's) I babysat a lot. I made $8-$10/hr.

 

[Lilacs4Me]

We never paid babysitters when my kids were little. We took them with us, or didn't do it. On the rare occasion we HAD to do something and the kids couldn't go, my SIL or MIL watched them.

WARNING: RANT AHEAD:

$18 an hour??!! I didn't make that much money an hour until I had a bachelor's degree! holy crap!!

Despite what many on here are saying, it's not "cheaping out" to pay a babysitter less than minimum wage. Min wage was $4.25 when I used to babysit in HS (in the 90's), and the going babysitting rate was $2.00-$2.50/hr, and for that pay, I used to do a pretty good job! It's really not THAT hard to keep kids alive and safe for a few hours, so what do they need $18/hour for today??!!

Personally, I think that charging (and paying!) that much is insane, and like everything else, parents feel guilted into paying that much because they think that paying any less - and then something happening - will make them bad parents. Things are going to happen no matter if you are paying a 15 year old $6-$8 (which I think is much more reasonable for a kid to earn babysitting for a few hours) or if you are paying them $18.

But I get it - we are raising entitled kids in an entitled world, in an entitled time. They expect to be paid $18/hour to make some mac and cheese and put the kids to bed at 8pm, and sit around watching Netflix for a few hours. And parents agree to pay it. Why? Because it's SOOOO unheard of for a teen to be expected to keep a kid safe and fed for 20 bucks while their parents have a date-night? In order to provide these VERY basic duties, these kids have to be paid more than most of the parents started off making after college?

What a racket.

To those willingly paying that much, and enjoying doing so, more power to you. But don't fool yourself into thinking you are getting any "better" care for your kid. A 15 year old is a 15 year old, no matter how much s/he is getting paid.

YMMV.

 

[undertheradar]

We never paid babysitters when my kids were little. We took them with us, or didn't do it. On the rare occasion we HAD to do something and the kids couldn't go, my SIL or MIL watched them.

WARNING: RANT AHEAD:

$18 an hour??!! I didn't make that much money an hour until I had a bachelor's degree! holy crap!!

Despite what many on here are saying, it's not "cheaping out" to pay a babysitter less than minimum wage. Min wage was $4.25 when I used to babysit in HS (in the 90's), and the going babysitting rate was $2.00-$2.50/hr, and for that pay, I used to do a pretty good job! It's really not THAT hard to keep kids alive and safe for a few hours, so what do they need $18/hour for today??!!

Personally, I think that charging (and paying!) that much is insane, and like everything else, parents feel guilted into paying that much because they think that paying any less - and then something happening - will make them bad parents. Things are going to happen no matter if you are paying a 15 year old $6-$8 (which I think is much more reasonable for a kid to earn babysitting for a few hours) or if you are paying them $18.

But I get it - we are raising entitled kids in an entitled world, in an entitled time. They expect to be paid $18/hour to make some mac and cheese and put the kids to bed at 8pm, and sit around watching Netflix for a few hours. And parents agree to pay it. Why? Because it's SOOOO unheard of for a teen to be expected to keep a kid safe and fed for 20 bucks while their parents have a date-night? In order to provide these VERY basic duties, these kids have to be paid more than most of the parents started off making after college?

What a racket.

To those willingly paying that much, and enjoying doing so, more power to you. But don't fool yourself into thinking you are getting any "better" care for your kid. A 15 year old is a 15 year old, no matter how much s/he is getting paid.

YMMV.

What value do you place for the safety of your children?

 

[mjkacmom]

We never paid babysitters when my kids were little. We took them with us, or didn't do it. On the rare occasion we HAD to do something and the kids couldn't go, my SIL or MIL watched them.

WARNING: RANT AHEAD:

$18 an hour??!! I didn't make that much money an hour until I had a bachelor's degree! holy crap!!

Despite what many on here are saying, it's not "cheaping out" to pay a babysitter less than minimum wage. Min wage was $4.25 when I used to babysit in HS (in the 90's), and the going babysitting rate was $2.00-$2.50/hr, and for that pay, I used to do a pretty good job! It's really not THAT hard to keep kids alive and safe for a few hours, so what do they need $18/hour for today??!!

Personally, I think that charging (and paying!) that much is insane, and like everything else, parents feel guilted into paying that much because they think that paying any less - and then something happening - will make them bad parents. Things are going to happen no matter if you are paying a 15 year old $6-$8 (which I think is much more reasonable for a kid to earn babysitting for a few hours) or if you are paying them $18.

But I get it - we are raising entitled kids in an entitled world, in an entitled time. They expect to be paid $18/hour to make some mac and cheese and put the kids to bed at 8pm, and sit around watching Netflix for a few hours. And parents agree to pay it. Why? Because it's SOOOO unheard of for a teen to be expected to keep a kid safe and fed for 20 bucks while their parents have a date-night? In order to provide these VERY basic duties, these kids have to be paid more than most of the parents started off making after college?

What a racket.

To those willingly paying that much, and enjoying doing so, more power to you. But don't fool yourself into thinking you are getting any "better" care for your kid. A 15 year old is a 15 year old, no matter how much s/he is getting paid.

YMMV.

My 2 oldest were born in the 90’s, I paid at least $10 an hour. We used sitters a lot, even though my parents lived in town (they liked to go to bed early, and we felt bad staying out late, but didn’t with a well paid sitter). Honestly, kids are so busy these days, a good sitter is hard to find. We had great ones who played with the kids, my kids loved having sitters.

$6 an hour for a sitter? Maybe decades ago.

 

[Southernmiss]

I want to know how many people work closely with 'entitled teenagers' on a daily basis. And where these kids are.

I've worked closely with teens since 1993. 99 percent are not entitled.

That phrase is becoming very old and offensive.

Please work with teens in a church or school or community program before you lump all as entitled.

Most kids I know accept gratefully what is given to them. Parents who find a good sitter are willing to give more to keep the sitter coming back to their house, because teens are busy and their time is also important.

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

Baby sitting prices, like most things, change with the times. Why would a teen want to babysit for $5/hour or less when they can go their local McDonald's or grocery store and make more than that?

No I don't think that paying someone more equates to better care, but it is what it is. If I want a sitter then we pay for it.

 

[Turn the Page]

We never paid babysitters when my kids were little. We took them with us, or didn't do it. On the rare occasion we HAD to do something and the kids couldn't go, my SIL or MIL watched them.

WARNING: RANT AHEAD:

$18 an hour??!! I didn't make that much money an hour until I had a bachelor's degree! holy crap!!

Despite what many on here are saying, it's not "cheaping out" to pay a babysitter less than minimum wage. Min wage was $4.25 when I used to babysit in HS (in the 90's), and the going babysitting rate was $2.00-$2.50/hr, and for that pay, I used to do a pretty good job! It's really not THAT hard to keep kids alive and safe for a few hours, so what do they need $18/hour for today??!!

Personally, I think that charging (and paying!) that much is insane, and like everything else, parents feel guilted into paying that much because they think that paying any less - and then something happening - will make them bad parents. Things are going to happen no matter if you are paying a 15 year old $6-$8 (which I think is much more reasonable for a kid to earn babysitting for a few hours) or if you are paying them $18.

But I get it - we are raising entitled kids in an entitled world, in an entitled time. They expect to be paid $18/hour to make some mac and cheese and put the kids to bed at 8pm, and sit around watching Netflix for a few hours. And parents agree to pay it. Why? Because it's SOOOO unheard of for a teen to be expected to keep a kid safe and fed for 20 bucks while their parents have a date-night? In order to provide these VERY basic duties, these kids have to be paid more than most of the parents started off making after college?

What a racket.

To those willingly paying that much, and enjoying doing so, more power to you. But don't fool yourself into thinking you are getting any "better" care for your kid. A 15 year old is a 15 year old, no matter how much s/he is getting paid.

YMMV.

When I babysat in the mid to late 90's I was probably making a few bucks an hour, I don't remember how much exactly, to watch three kids. But I was about 11 to 13 years old. By the time I hit 14 and high school I wasn't really babysitting anymore because I had an actual job and after school activities like sports teams and things like that. If I wanted a car when I turned 16 I had to pay for the car and all its expenses myself not to mention I was expected to pay for any extra curricular activities myself as well. Babysitting every now and then for a couple bucks an hour wasn't going to cut it. I needed to make more than that.

Now, parents don't want just the neighborhood kid to come keep their kid alive for a few hours, make them mac and cheese, and then put them to bed and watch netflix. They want sitters to have their own car, be CPR certified, have years of experience, etc., etc., etc. That doesn't come for $2.50 an hour.

 

[Southernmiss]

And the sitter in the OP is over 18. And has at least some of her own bills-car upkeep, perhaps more.

 

[aprilgail]

Let me say that our baby-sitter is amazing. She has been watching my boys for 4 years now. She is over 18, CPR certified, and has a car.

But holy cow is it expensive! She originally charged $5 an hour, but for the amount of kids we have, and how rambunctious they are, we pay $10 an hour. DH and I went out to lunch, bowling, and dessert with friends. Afterwards we hit up Target for about 30 mins. We paid around $70 for baby-sitting. This is why we rarely go out on the weekends. Anyone else pay this rate or more? The rate people pay for baby-sitting has always fascinated me. When I used to baby-sit, the worse children ever, I made about $20 for 6 hours of baby-sitting.

My daughter would run the other way for 3 young boys and just 10.00 an hour! She babysits for one boy and gets 15.00 an hour and she babysits for a family with a boy and a girl and gets 20.00 an hour. I would not even consider babysitting for 3 kids for 10 bucks an hour.

 

[Vicki926]

Let me say that our baby-sitter is amazing. She has been watching my boys for 4 years now. She is over 18, CPR certified, and has a car.

But holy cow is it expensive! She originally charged $5 an hour, but for the amount of kids we have, and how rambunctious they are, we pay $10 an hour. DH and I went out to lunch, bowling, and dessert with friends. Afterwards we hit up Target for about 30 mins. We paid around $70 for baby-sitting. This is why we rarely go out on the weekends. Anyone else pay this rate or more? The rate people pay for baby-sitting has always fascinated me. When I used to baby-sit, the worse children ever, I made about $20 for 6 hours of baby-sitting.

To be honest, I hated paying for babysitting. I only paid like twice, ever. I paid $10/hour. Thankfully, when my kids were little, my father in law lived upstairs in our 2 family house and he loved watching the kids. We didn’t go out a ton without the kids, so he wasn’t watching them every week, but he looked forward to any time we did.
My 18 year old daughter babysits for 2 families and makes $15/hour. Crazy. She doesn’t charge that price, she lets her families decide and that’s what they pay her.

 

[handinpocket]

What value do you place for the safety of your children?

Do you really believe because you pay more, the sitter will be better? Around this area, sitters are usually paid by the day, not hour. Most charge 20.00 for the night out, some as high as 40.

 

[NJlauren]

I think there is a difference in price when I have a 15 year old come or a 25 year old.

My current sitter is 25, is a daycare teacher, a nanny has CPR certification. I pay her 15-20 a 15 year old closer to 10-15.

 

[mjkacmom]

Do you really believe because you pay more, the sitter will be better? Around this area, sitters are usually paid by the day, not hour. Most charge 20.00 for the night out, some as high as 40.

Where do you live, 1980?

 

[undertheradar]

Do you really believe because you pay more, the sitter will be better? Around this area, sitters are usually paid by the day, not hour. Most charge 20.00 for the night out, some as high as 40.

Where you live determines what the market is. I have never heard of a sitter being paid by the day unless we are talking about pet sitters!

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

I think there is a difference in price when I have a 15 year old come or a 25 year old.

My current sitter is 25, is a daycare teacher, a nanny has CPR certification. I pay her 15-20 a 15 year old closer to 10-15.

Is the 25 year old doing anything above and beyond the 15 year old? I understand she is a daycare worker but is she doing anything extra that warrants more money? (Assuming the 15 year old is also CPR certified, which many teens are.)

 

[LilyWDW]

I was making that and more back in the 90's as a high school student with CPR, first aid, and life guard certifications. One family for 2 was $10 an hour and another family for 3 was $10-$15 an hour depending on how many and which of the kids I had (one child needed additional care due to disabilities and the family decided to pay more when I was also watching her). So I would say $10 an hour for three kids TODAY is a dang good price and you should be happy as heck to get such a qualified sitter at that.

 

[firefly_ris]

I pay 10 an hour for 3 children... I usually use my husband's niece or a young girl that lives about a mile away. This is typically for night time babysitting and I usually have already given my kids dinner, baths and pajamas so the sitter just needs to keep them entertained for an hour or two then put them to bed, then they have the rest if the night for TV or whatever. They are not CPR certified or anything like that though. I would probably pay more if it was during the day time and there was more care required. We don't go out much though so this isn't a regularly scheduled thing.

 

[NJlauren]

Is the 25 year old doing anything above and beyond the 15 year old? I understand she is a daycare worker but is she doing anything extra that warrants more money? (Assuming the 15 year old is also CPR certified, which many teens are.)

She has taken her to the zoo, out for the day etc. she also gives DD a bath which I didn’t ask her to do she just did, the 15 year I didn’t ask and she didn’t do it.

To be honest I don’t know if the 15 year old is CPR certified I didn’t ask, I only know the other is because o know it’s required where she works.

The 15 year old now 17, used to only babysit when DD was already asleep so she didn’t even need to do anything just listen for her. We have now occasionally left her awake with her.

So yes the old babysitter does a bit more

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

She has taken her to the zoo, out for the day etc. she also gives DD a bath which I didn’t ask her to do she just did, the 15 year I didn’t ask and she didn’t do it.

To be honest I don’t know if the 15 year old is CPR certified I didn’t ask, I only know the other is because o know it’s required where she works.

The 15 year old now 17, used to only babysit when DD was already asleep so she didn’t even need to do anything just listen for her. We have now occasionally left her awake with her.

So yes the old babysitter does a bit more

Thanks for providing more detail. That makes complete sense to pay her more then. I thought you meant you paid her more JUST because she's older and a daycare provider.

 

[SmallWorld71]

I want to know how many people work closely with 'entitled teenagers' on a daily basis. And where these kids are.

I've worked closely with teens since 1993. 99 percent are not entitled.

That phrase is becoming very old and offensive.

Please work with teens in a church or school or community program before you lump all as entitled.

Most kids I know accept gratefully what is given to them. Parents who find a good sitter are willing to give more to keep the sitter coming back to their house, because teens are busy and their time is also important.

I agree. Teens today work so much harder than we ever did to achieve the same results. If you think today’s teens are entitled, you’re looking in the wrong places.

As far as the rate for babysitting goes, I am surprised it’s so low. I suppose some of it’s the regional factor, but I made $5 an hour as a 12-14 year old back in the 80’s. I was too shy to ask for a set amount, but that’s what people always paid me. This was in your typical suburban town.

In college in the early 90’s (Boston) I made more than $10 an hour. I worked at my university’s childcare center for work study and the parents would hire us as babysitters. I usually was paid about $40 plus they bought me dinner for 3-4 hours of work. (2 of which the child was sleeping) My favorite family to babysit for always paid me $100 to spend the night. I would arrive about 5:00 and the child went to bed at 8. I slept in a trundle bed in his room. No idea what time mom would come home, but in the morning she would pay me and I would take the T home. It was a great gig for a poor college student.

Anyway, the reason we all loved babysitting was that it paid so much MORE than minimum wage. That’s not the case today. My 15 year old makes $11 an hour to bag/ ring groceries. Babysitting is no longer the lucrative opportunity it used to be when I was her age.