How much would you pay a teenage cousin to watch your kids?

[roliepolieoliefan]

My mom usually watches my kids ( 9 yo boy, 4 yo girl) when I work. 1 -2 days a week. Her and her boyfriend are going on a crosscountry trip for a few weeks. I took some time off of work, but the rest of the time our 16 yo cousin is going to watch the kids.

As I stated, the kids are 9 and 4. They will be at cousin's house. It will be 1 day this week and 2 days next week. Probably for about 8-9 hours total.
This week the dad took the day off, so he'll be there also, but I believe next week, she'll have them on her own, probably with a friend.

I'm obviously going to pay her, but how much? DH and I always have my mom or his mom watch the kids. We've never paid anyone. What do you think is a fair rate?

 

[GothTink]

We normally pay our babysitter $6/hour.

 

[PrincessRora]

I used to babysit for my cousins when I was younger. I'm 9 years older than the oldest one. I started when I was 14 and they were 5 and 1. The way I worked it with my aunt was that she asked me what I usually got paid by other people I babysat for. I told her the amount, but said I would do it for less since these were my cousins and I enjoyed being around them. I still do and at 22 I'll be watching the younger one this week. The only thing that bothered me about watching my cousins wasn't that I got paid about $2 less an hour than I usually would, was that my aunt took "family" to mean she never had to pay me on time. She'd come home and say things like "we forgot to go to the bank, can I bring it over tomorrow?" or "I'll give it to your mom at work on Monday." And as her niece, I never could argue. I don't know if that helps you much, but I'm not sure what the going rate for babysitting is these days with teenagers.

 

[brymolmom]

I would pay whatever the normal 'going' rate is for daily childcare watch is in your area - MAYBE minus a few bucks OR plus a few bucks if she's really good and plays with the kids a lot, etc.

Around me - the going daily rate is $25 - $30 per kid, per day.

My girlfriend who is a teacher and watches my kids one day a week in the summer gets $60 per day - but she does it at MY home which generally gets a few bucks more.

 

[Darcy03231]

I live in Southern NH and here the going rate is $12-$15/hr.

 

[mommy-on-the-move]

In our family we tend to do gifts rather than cash because there's alot of awkwardness in our family at offering cash, they'd refuse to take it even if they really wanted/needed- to avoid that awkwardness I'd probably put the $$ i'd have paid onto a gift card they could use somewhere they know they enjoy shopping/eating/going.

When my sil was younger (had my eldest as a teenager, sil is only 11 years older than our eldest) when she'd look after her I'd make sure she had plenty of food she liked in and then take her out clothes shopping afterwards as I knew MIL struggled to buy her fashionable shoes & clothes at a time when it was really important to her.

 

[An_Island_Girl]

We pay our sitter $15 an hour here in MA... makes no difference if they are family or not, they are still watching your most precious belongings.

What could your cousin be making if she watched her neighbors children? That is what you should pay her.

 

[roliepolieoliefan]

I live in Southern NH and here the going rate is $12-$15/hr.

Holy crap! If I had to pay a sitter that much, it wouldn't be even worth it for me to go to work. Is that per kid?

 

[roliepolieoliefan]

We pay our sitter $15 an hour here in MA... makes no difference if they are family or not, they are still watching your most precious belongings.

What could your cousin be making if she watched her neighbors children? That is what you should pay her.

She doesn't watch neighborhood kids. This is actually her first job babysitting. She works at the local waterpark and makes below minimum wage working there.

 

[allison443]

I would pay her hourly, not per day as some have suggested. When I used teenage babysitters in the summer to fill in, I paid $10 an hour for two kids. In your case, maybe $6-$7 an hour? I wouldn't worry about it busting your budget since it's only for a couple of days and the rest of the time you pay "grandma rate" (gotta love grandmas! )

 

[daisyduck123]

I would pay her whatever sitters in your area get. She should not have a cheaper rate just because she is a relative.

For two kids, sitters around here get $10.00/hour.

My DD13 gets $9.00 when she watches our 9yo next-door neighbor.

 

[bunny]

I live in Washington, PA (probably not too far from you OP). My children both attend daycare/summer camp. I pay $49 per day for both of them. I agree that I couldn't afford to work if I paid as much as some other people suggested. I think they are talking about occasional babysitting as opposed to full time childcare. I would say give her $50 per day plus bring some treats for her and her friend.

 

[roliepolieoliefan]

I live in Washington, PA (probably not too far from you OP). My children both attend daycare/summer camp. I pay $49 per day for both of them. I agree that I couldn't afford to work if I paid as much as some other people suggested. I think they are talking about occasional babysitting as opposed to full time childcare. I would say give her $50 per day plus bring some treats for her and her friend.

Thx I was thinking exactly what you wrote. I was thinking somewhere between $40.00-$50.00 a day.

I understand the going rate for babysitting but if I paid a sitter $15.00 an hour to watch my kids and I worked 8 hours a day, just say I worked 5 days a week, that would come out to $2400.00 a month. I seriously doubt anyone pays $2400.00 a month for daycare. My neighbor sends her DD to daycare and for 5 days a week 8 hours a day its a little under $900.00 a month.

I can understand paying an occasional teenage sitter to watch your kids for a couple hours so S.O. and you (general you) can go out, $10-15.00 an hour, but if I was going to pay my cousin $15.00 an hour, sheesh, I mind as well stick the kids in daycare, it would be much cheaper.

 

[An_Island_Girl]

If you will only be needing your cousin a few times, then it is very different than trying to get a long term sitter that will be job-hunting for a better paying family

We are lucky that we have a great sitter for 2 months in the summer when our au-pair has time off, so we definately find it worth wile. Although it is certainly more expensive than a day-care setting, we like the fact that our DD has the one to one flexibility rather than having a set schedule. We did have to adjust our yearly budget, but I wouldn't change a thing. Luckily I only have to work 3 days a week now.

You are so fortunate to have your mother as a sitter!

 

[camlace]

As I stated, the kids are 9 and 4. They will be at cousin's house. It will be 1 day this week and 2 days next week. Probably for about 8-9 hours total.
This week the dad took the day off, so he'll be there also, but I believe next week, she'll have them on her own, probably with a friend.

8-9 hours total per day or total over the 3 days? If she is just babysitting a couple hours each day, then I agree with other posters for the $10-15/hour for the two kids. If you're talking 8-9 hours each day I'd pay $50-60/day. I pay $10-15/hour for "babysitting" one child and a daily rate for "daycare" of $60/day.

 

[Hasil72]

I was thinking somewhere between $40.00-$50.00 a day.

That's roughly what I pay my sister for the summer. During the school year, I pay over $1200/month in childcare for DD(4-daycare) and DS(8-before/after school program). Anyway, I can't afford the $425/week to send them both to daycare for the summer so we pay my sister, home for the summer from college, half of what I would pay for daycare/camp. Works out well for everyone. Most people in my area pay a flat rate per day in that type of situation. A night out is hourly around $10/hour.

 

[3"Mouse"keteers]

When I babysat my nephew for my DSIL she refused to pay me more than $2 an hour. She said that is what she paid for daycare. That is what I pay for daycare also ($16/day) but our daycare workers are watching 6 kids so they are getting much more than 2 bucks an hour. $2 isn't even min wage! I couldn't believe her nerve! Then she got upset when I asked for $5 an hour which I thought was more than fair! I was giving up my christmas vacation from college to help her out.

 

[mommyof2princesses]

My dd13 gets $5 and hour for one kid and $7 an hour for two. I think this is reasonable. Sometimes they give her a few extra bucks, like when she has to feed them dinner or put them to bed.