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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To ask how much you’d expect a babysitter to cost on NYE

519 replies

ThatMauveRaven · 30/12/2024 18:15

20yo DD has been asked (last minute) to babysit her manager’s two young children tomorrow night. They’ve offered her £60 in cash to be there from 8pm-1am. The two kids will most likely be asleep in bed, so she won’t exactly have to do much work but I still think that this is quite stingey considering it’s New Years Eve!

Thoughts?

YABU - £60 is enough
YANBU - I’d expect to pay more

OP posts:
Serene135 · 31/12/2024 20:04

I think I would have accepted £85 too if I didn’t have any other plans.

croydon15 · 31/12/2024 20:00

I thought £85 was fair, if the kids are in bed it can be easy money.

DoggingDave · 31/12/2024 19:59

ThatMauveRaven · 30/12/2024 18:15

20yo DD has been asked (last minute) to babysit her manager’s two young children tomorrow night. They’ve offered her £60 in cash to be there from 8pm-1am. The two kids will most likely be asleep in bed, so she won’t exactly have to do much work but I still think that this is quite stingey considering it’s New Years Eve!

Thoughts?

YABU - £60 is enough
YANBU - I’d expect to pay more

Minimum of £50 per hour on nye

Twototwo15 · 31/12/2024 19:57

WearyAuldWumman · 31/12/2024 01:35

It's more complicated than that.

This is isn't just any night of the year. The OP hasn't applied for the job - she's been asked to do it as a favour, presumably because babysitters are in short supply at that particular time of year.

Are the professional ones more expensive than usual on New Year’s Eve? If they are around £100 for example, I wouldn’t expect to pay someone who isn’t a professional baby sitter as much.

Turophilic · 31/12/2024 18:55

Why so spiky? Did your staff member turn you down for cut rate babysitting, @roses2 ?

It’s widely been established on this thread that £60 is a pisstaking amount to offer for last minute NYE babysitting. And no one has to accept a poor wage just because they don’t have plans; it’s not a race to the bottom.

Maybe this will encourage the DD’s boss to take childcare work more seriously, plan ahead and pay the going rate in future.

rubiconartist · 31/12/2024 18:48

@roses2 why are you being such a dick on this thread, it's really weird and rude!

Judecb · 31/12/2024 18:25

For NYE £20 per hour. Min.

Charliecatpaws · 31/12/2024 17:54

Oreosareawful · 30/12/2024 18:22

Wow, I was thinking about £50, seeing as we usually pay £20 for a babysitter for the evening

Who do you get to babysit for £20???

Have you heard of minimum wage???

surreygirl1987 · 31/12/2024 17:51

Summerdew · 31/12/2024 17:32

Babysitting isn’t doing nothing though, it’s being on call and aware of what is going on. If the toddler can’t sleep or needs changing or is unwell she has to be on call for that. It also means that she has to stay up and awake when she might fancy a chilled early night.

Exactly. Babysitting CAN be easy (even though you are still responsible for the lives of minors) but can also be a nightmare. I've had nights with my two children which I thought would never end!

PeloMom · 31/12/2024 17:50

@Bbq1 shes not doing nothing though. If there’s an emergency, she’s there to deal with it. It’s also worth a lot the fact she can’t go to bed until the parents get back and 1am onwards is quite late - that’s a sacrifice that needs to be compensated.
surely when you accept jobs you evaluate the pay on the basis of whether its worth getting out of bed for that or not based on pay, what the job is etc?

surreygirl1987 · 31/12/2024 17:49

Sandandsea123 · 31/12/2024 17:45

I used to get about £150 for NYE age 16, and that was over 20 years ago!

Glad people valued you and the work you were doing!

surreygirl1987 · 31/12/2024 17:48

Bbq1 · 31/12/2024 17:29

I didn't say she was worthless, I absolutely didn't and I do value people. I was merely saying that £60 for a WOMAN doing nothing else isn't that bad. Time spent sitting on a. sofa, watching tv or whatever, when you would be doing the same at home is worth £60. Don't say i claimed somebody was worthless whem i definitely didn't. Obviously everyone on here thinks she should be getting £100 plus anyway so ut doesn't matter especially as said WOMAN isn't doing it now anyway.

Yeh, you scoffed at 'her worth' and questioned it. Why are you so angry? 😅

Your words (in response to someone saying she is worth better):
Her worth? She's an unqualified girl just out of her teens (with probably little experience with children) who had no other plans for NYE so I'd say £60 is a decent offer for her.

Sandandsea123 · 31/12/2024 17:45

I used to get about £150 for NYE age 16, and that was over 20 years ago!

surreygirl1987 · 31/12/2024 17:45

roses2 · 31/12/2024 17:31

I find that hard to believe. First you say she’s working then you say shes a healthcare student. I’m going to assume she works part time in a supermarket.

And 80 people were contacted and not one of them took up the offer? If my child were spending the night at home doing nothing, I’d tell him to take up the offer.

Are you the type of parent that would tell their child to sit at home and claim benefits rather than work a minimum wage job also?

What on earth are you on about?!?! Talk sense!

ThatMauveRaven · 31/12/2024 17:43

roses2 · 31/12/2024 17:31

I find that hard to believe. First you say she’s working then you say shes a healthcare student. I’m going to assume she works part time in a supermarket.

And 80 people were contacted and not one of them took up the offer? If my child were spending the night at home doing nothing, I’d tell him to take up the offer.

Are you the type of parent that would tell their child to sit at home and claim benefits rather than work a minimum wage job also?

Again, it’s quite a unique job and would be very outing. All I will say is that it’s a seasonal visitor attraction. Her contract is 0 hours so she just works when she can - typically in the summer and during Christmas holidays she does full time hours, with the occasional weekend or evening in between. Surely a student having a part time job can’t be a foreign concept to you?

Calling my DD a benefit scrounger🤣 As if! Hope you don’t need a good physiotherapist in the future..

OP posts:
rubiconartist · 31/12/2024 17:41

I'd want at least £100 and cab home if I didn't drive.

CowTown · 31/12/2024 17:35

Summerdew · 31/12/2024 17:32

Babysitting isn’t doing nothing though, it’s being on call and aware of what is going on. If the toddler can’t sleep or needs changing or is unwell she has to be on call for that. It also means that she has to stay up and awake when she might fancy a chilled early night.

Exactly. At home, she’d be with loved ones, enjoying/talking about the TV programme, snuggled up in her PJs and slippers, and eating party food. A very different option to sitting in a stranger’s house on your own.

PheasantPluckers · 31/12/2024 17:33

Definitely £100.

Summerdew · 31/12/2024 17:32

Babysitting isn’t doing nothing though, it’s being on call and aware of what is going on. If the toddler can’t sleep or needs changing or is unwell she has to be on call for that. It also means that she has to stay up and awake when she might fancy a chilled early night.

roses2 · 31/12/2024 17:31

ThatMauveRaven · 31/12/2024 15:30

Update: DD politely refused the £85 offer and told him to have a good NYE. The staff group chat has around 80 young people in it - not a single one of them has taken the £60 offer so looks like he’ll be doing without childcare and staying in for the night instead. Shame!

Edited

I find that hard to believe. First you say she’s working then you say shes a healthcare student. I’m going to assume she works part time in a supermarket.

And 80 people were contacted and not one of them took up the offer? If my child were spending the night at home doing nothing, I’d tell him to take up the offer.

Are you the type of parent that would tell their child to sit at home and claim benefits rather than work a minimum wage job also?

Serene135 · 31/12/2024 17:30

I think at least £100 to ring in the new year in someone else’s home and with someone else’s family is fair.

Bbq1 · 31/12/2024 17:29

surreygirl1987 · 31/12/2024 17:07

Do you always treat people like they're worthless?

She obviously believes she is worth more. And so do the majority of people on this thread. Good for her.

My neighbour babysits for me. She has little experience with children, and no qualifications in childcare. She is worth her weight in gold to me, and as I appreciate her, I pay her well.

Valuing the people around you, including those who work for you, is a no-brainer. Is she has so little 'worth' as you claim, why did he ask her in the first place?

I didn't say she was worthless, I absolutely didn't and I do value people. I was merely saying that £60 for a WOMAN doing nothing else isn't that bad. Time spent sitting on a. sofa, watching tv or whatever, when you would be doing the same at home is worth £60. Don't say i claimed somebody was worthless whem i definitely didn't. Obviously everyone on here thinks she should be getting £100 plus anyway so ut doesn't matter especially as said WOMAN isn't doing it now anyway.

Summerdew · 31/12/2024 17:29

OP I think it’s great that you’re instilling such self belief in to your daughter that she knows she is worth more than a bargain offer. Hope you both have a lovely NYE.

cansu · 31/12/2024 17:24

Dbs

cansu · 31/12/2024 17:24

Surreygirl1987 I literally said that she either wants the cash or doesn't. I am not sure what you are disagreeing with tbh. I can only assume you are disagreeing with what I said about tax, insurance etc. I am not sure why. Do you disagree that most people earning a decent hourly wage are qualified, insured, pay tax and for working with children would normally have a disability?

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