How much do you pay a teenage babysitter?

[pinkduckk]

I'm considering asking a girl local to me (age 18) to help with babysitting duties...it would be an extremely easy gig, just basically being in the house with my younger teen if I am out later than I'm comfortable leaving them alone. So maybe sitting watching telly or whatever from say 8pm to midnight. Maybe walking my dog 5-10 mins for a bedtime pee.
What would be a fair going rate?

Minimum wage for 18-20 year olds is £10 an hour

£10 an hour.

When i saw teenage babysitter i thought you meant 13-16 ish but 18 is an adult right?!

Thank you all! Yes I suppose they are technically an adult...would that change the rate?

She's an adult and should be paid at least minimum wage for her age bracket.

Of course it changes the rate. The very minimum she should be paid is minimum wage.

Although personally I'd pay someone looking after my child more than the minimum.

I don’t know what the going rate is but wouldn’t assume you need to meet minimum wage as the babysitter will be keeping all the cash (no tax or NI) which makes quite a difference. Also, depending on circumstances she may not be doing any actual work, just on call. It’s not like minding a toddler.

I’d pay an 18 year old £10 an hour. DS2 is 15 and he’d be happy with £6 an hour.

I would pay the same as I’d pay anyone else for the work. am guessing it’s really variable by area. We don’t have a babysitter often at all but the last time we paid £15/hour and rounded up and provided pizza and snacks.

I remember when I was a teenager I used to get £10 for baby sitting , looking back I feel ripped off.

My 15 year old gets £10/hour and is delighted with that. I expect an 18 year old would want more though it’s an easy gig.

It would literally be sitting on my sofa, being ignored by a younger teen😅potentially a 5 min dog walk (easy, elderly dog).
No cooking, nappy changing, toddler wrangling, just really being a presence in the house.

Dd is 15 and gets £10 per hour from one although it gets rounding up if it goes 10 mins over, no change etc. They’ll pay a taxi home if it’s late. Other pays £15

Thank you all. It's an expensive business, more costly than the actual night out!

Thing is while it might be easy work it is also invaluable if you don't have any one around to help you out. So it becomes worth it's weight in gold.

Dd is 13 and babysits other kids herself, she gets £10 an hour.

We give our neighbour's girl (13) £5/hr. We wanted to give more, but they insisted it was too much! We put out some light snacks, and usually dd is in bed, so she just has to sit on our sofa watching TV. If dd is awake, she'll bring a friend to help out.

Yup. We’ve only used a babysitter a handful of times as it easily doubles the cost of a night out.

I’ve just noticed you said ‘younger teen’ so 13 minimum (I assumed tween at first) and that you planned on paying a babysitter to take a dog out for a ten minute walk?
that is very unusual. Many children are getting paid to babysit younger children by that age.

@arethereanyleftatalli know, that's why I'm swithering over it...they're just a pretty young 13 and it's only the 2 of us in the house now..that's a recent change for them and they're not particularly confident on their own.
I find it an awkward age...really too old for a babysitter but too young to leave for too long/ too late at night.

Can they stay at a friends of yours or theirs?

I know, that would be easier, and they do go to the odd sleepover, but I don't really like to ask to be honest. DC also not hugely keen on staying away.