Teen baby sitting pay

[Anothernamethesamegame]

How much would you pay a 16 yr old to look after 2 children for 4 hours. Children are 9 and 10, so fairly easy to look after, just need someone sitting with them. I have left lunch too. Is £20 pound ok? Or £24 so it’s £6 per hour?

just totally out of touch with what is expected/normal for teenagers babysitting.

Watching as I’m about to hire a teen babysitter and have no clue whatsoever what the going rate is

£5 ph seems the going rate here. Maybe more if late at night

£10/hour here (London). And that’s for evenings when they’re likely to be in bed at least some of the time so tbh I’d expect to pay more in the daytime.

DD was paid £10 an hour at that age (2021) to mind two aged 9 and 11. She got left lunch and only had to give them snacks, drinks and hang out.

Yep £10/h in SE too for short but if longer £8/h and food.

I don't think it matters what age someone is. If they're doing the same job without an adult being there they should be paid the same amount as you would an adult.

I'd expect to pay £10ph.

My rates almost double in the evening. I'm not a teen though.

Christ. How does anyone afford to go out?!

What would you pay an adult babysitter? That.

I'd have said £20 for one child, so maybe £30 as there are two of them? 😊

My 16 year old earns £7 ph working Sats in a florist. I would say babysitting is a whole different level of responsibility and pay should reflect that.

It's about 10ph here

£10? Is that because it’s London?

I paid £10 per hour for a 20 yr old who was currently training at Norland (so had some health and safety etc). That seems very high for a teen doing informal baby sitting. But I’m not London

I would and have paid £10 an hour, but she made dinner, did craft activities and took them to the park etc. This is teen is just supervising while they watch TV/play on games console.

National Minimum Wage is £5.28 for 16yos, so anyone suggesting lower is a bit of a mean cf.

I paid £10 per hour for a 20 yr old who was currently training at Norland (so had some health and safety etc). That seems very high for a teen doing informal baby sitting. But I’m not London

You say "informal" but what if an incident happened. You'd still hope and expect the 16 year old to deal with the immediate fallout and therefore that "risk" should be reflected in pay!

Thanks everyone. Seems I was/am out of touch with what the going rate for a teen baby’s sitter is so I do appreciate the replies.

When I was a teen, without employment and would baby sit I would get paid but nothing compares to what an adult baby/sitter cater would get. But that was 20 years ago so I appreciate that times change and I need to move with them.

Only thing is if I’m paying £10 per hour I’d probably go back to using the 20 year old trainee Norland or other adult with experience rather than ask my teen relative.

£7ph here (SE but not London)

Yea that is true, they have the same responsibility I suppose. I guess the difference is expectations around how active they are with the kids.

I used to babysit all the time at 16 for bugger all.

It was all a bit of a doss until faced with vomit/nightmares/bed wetting etc etc and then I def earned my money!!

I think it's like air crew. Ostensibly, they're there to hand out peanuts and gin and tonics. Really they're there in case the plane crashes. Same goes for baby sitters!

We are in Scotland, and not even a city.

I think I just wasn’t up to date on the current baby sitting rates. Just surprised that cost of teen baby sitter is the same as an adult/experienced baby sitter.

Hi, My daughter is 13 yrs & been asked to babysit in Cheshire. Is £7 an hour too much to ask? Thanks in advance x