How much should a 'mother's helper' get paid?

[minniebeth]

This is a whole new world for us...
my DD is not quite old enough to babysit on her own yet, but we have several families in the neighborhood who want her to start being a mother's helper for them. They would like to know how much she would like to be paid to start a negotiating process, but she (nor I) has NO idea what to request.
We usually don't use a babysitter, we usually swap with friends to save on babysitting expenses and now my DS is old enough to babysit himself, so I have no frame of reference (other than I hear $10 per hour is a typical going rate.... ) Could you all give me some ideas of where to start?
Thanks so much!

 

[Aliceacc]

I used mother's helpers for the 6 years I was a SAHM. I would tutor in the dining room, and the 3 girls across the street would watch my kids upstairs on in the yard.

They eventually became the world's best babysitters until they jumped ship and headed off for college

It's REALLY a regional thing. We currently pay our sitters $10 per hour, but I have no idea what the running rate is in your neighborhood.

In your position, I think I would probably hit the children's section of the library, or the babyfood aisle of the supermarket, and do one of those "do you mind if I ask you a question" numbers on the parents of young kids there.

 

[momtwo4]

It depends on your area. We are in Ohio, we pay $10/hr for babysitting and all our parents say thats too high, noone pays that much. (surprises me!) anyways I would pay a mothers helper here about $4 an hour if I was home. adding here... Mothers Helpers that I would be talking about would be really young girls maybe 6th grade that are good with kids but no way would I even leave them alone with my kids. Just someone to play with while I got some work done

Ask around, do any of her friends have jobs as Mothers Helpers?

edit---- I just say you are from Ohio! So are we, so I would guess it would be similarly priced but ask around to make sure

 

[IluvKingLouis]

Ohhh.....I must be soooo old. I use to get .75cents - $1.00 to babysit back in the early 70's, and I think minimum wage was about 2.75'sh. Because in 1980 I made $3.05 which was min wage at that time.

Wow,....so today's min wage is less then undeclared earnings that teenagers can make.

 

[ChristusG]

I use my 14 year old sister as my "mothers helper" quite often. I have two girls, ages 4 and 1. I pay her $7 an hour, right around minimum wage. She agrees with this. If she were staying here alone with them, I would pay her more. But I'm just in the other room. I write down a little schedule for her to follow with them with different activites to do. I usually have her stay for about 3 hours while I get some things done around the house.

 

[gaelic grace]

Some of my best sitters started out helping me around 6th grade. I pay my regular sitters at least 10.00 an hour but if I'm home and they are jr high I pay 5.00 an hour. I'm there, I have to pick up and drop off and they are happy to have it. In fact most of their mothers are happy they have something to do and wouldn't mind if they didn't get paid at all! It's a great help to get weeding or deep cleaning done and at that age they still love to play with the kids. It's always been a good situation for me.

 

[momx2]

My daughter is 10 and has been a mother's helper for our neighbor for about 6 months. The mom is always there. DD just plays with the 2 yr. old boy for about an hour. They pay her anywhere from $2 - $2.50 per hour. Since she isn't truly babysitting and she doesn't change diapers or feed or bath him I think that is more than fair, plus DD is getting experience.

 

[bzkds]

I'm in California. My older dd15 gets $7-8/hour if the parents are home. She gets a little more $8-10/hr if they are away and she is truly babysitting. My younger dd12 (just going into 7th grade) wants to start being a Mother's Helper, so I would suggest that people pay her $5/hr, altho I would assume some would pay more. Of course, she would love helping out and gaining the trust and experience for free if payment was an issue for the parents! lol
Beth

 

[princess&her4princes]

I'm in MA and I pay my mothers helper (age 15) $6/hr. to watch my boys ages 5&3 while I am at home (just busy doing laundrey, cleaning the house or tending to the baby). If we go out I pay her $8/hr. I'm not sure what the going rate is but she seems pretty happy with this. Hope this helps!

 

[ChristyJ]

My daughter is 11-will be 12 in early Dec. (6th grade). She's been a mother's helper for the past year earning $3.00 per hour. She took the Red Cross Babysitter course in the spring and has now started babysitting. She earns $5. per hour when she babysits.

 

[loveabargin]

I paid a mother's helper $5/hr when I was home. Now, I'm using a babysitter while I'm working part time and I'm paying her $6.50/hr. BUT, I also added her to my pool membership...which she can use anytime she wants and I pay for her to take my kids places like movies, McDonalds, Chuck-e-Cheese and let her keep the extra money (I make sure she has more than enough). I live in NC.

 

[PatsGirl]

DD is currently taking the Red Cross babysitting course and we were just discussing this as well. I told her I thought $5 each time she helped out would make it worth her while and give her the experience she needs before caring for children without an adult around. My thought is she would only be helping out 1-2 hours at a time to start and, in reality, the people she is helping are really helping her, it's a win/win and getting paid is just an extra bonus to provide the added incentive to "practice". Of course, she is just 11 and won't be babysitting for another year or two (or at least until she can stay home without a sitter herself ~~ she's a big chicken, lol) but has just begun to be interested in younger children. I can't wait until she changes (or attempts to change) her first poopie diaper

 

[whitepearl]

$10 per hour is a typical going rate....

 

[Todd&Copper]

Ohhh.....I must be soooo old. I use to get .75cents - $1.00 to babysit back in the early 70's, and I think minimum wage was about 2.75'sh. Because in 1980 I made $3.05 which was min wage at that time.

Wow,....so today's min wage is less then undeclared earnings that teenagers can make.

I know. I am surprised that the average pay is higher than min wage. What kid would want to do grunt work at McDonalds if you can make 33% more playing with little kids?????