to think that £20 for 8 hours babysitting isn't great?

[Hennypenny95]

My daughter is almost 18 and has agreed to babysit tonight for someone on our street from 5pm until 1am and she's received twenty quid for the 8 hours. Is this a reasonable rate? We're in the Midlands? She should have agreed a rate beforehand, I know, but she didn't as she's squirmy talking about money to people. What's a reasonable rate for her to ask for in future? She's on over £6 per hour in her part-time pub job, washing up and collecting dishes.

My fourteen year old was just given 10 pounds an hour (we are London). I told her not to go below six but she was offered ten.

They were stingy but it's a good life lesson for her. She needs to be less squeamish and more assertive about money. Next time someone asks her to babysit, she should say "I'd love to. My rate is £5 an hour." (£5 should be the minimum!)
NMW for under 18s is £4.62 and that will go up to £6.56 when she turns 18, so at that point she should start charging at least £7 an hour.

I'm on the fence about charging more after midnight. I think it's a harder job to put the kids to bed and easier when they're in bed, so I would be inclined to charge according

So she’s there now if I’m reading this right?
Tell her when they get home to ask for the rest of the money - it’s £x for 8 hours & you’ve only paid £20.
I know it’s tough to ask for money but they are absolutely taking the piss out out her.

Not only were the kids in bed already for ten pounds an hour but the family gave her the Netflix password and left her popcorn and cordial!

No, that’s not on at all.

I made more than that babysitting in the mid to late nineties! £40 should have been a minimum though I would probably pay 50-60 for that job. I don't necessarily agree that babysitters should be paid much less for jobs where kids are asleep. I remember trying to stay awake on those 1am nights just wishing I could go home and go to bed already. It is an imposition to be out super late and should be paid for accordingly.

@CherryRedDMs

I got double that in 1993.

This.

I'd get her to message them with something along the lines of-

"Sorry I just wanted to check. Did you mean to give me £20 for 8 hrs of babysitting? There was only one £20 note when I opened it up / the envelope"

Goodness I got £20 for four hours 20 year ago!

I pay £10-15 per hour for a babysitter. But I go through an agency which employs nannies or nursery workers who want additional hours.

For a teen looking after older children (not babies and toddlers), I would expect to pay at least minimum wage (and would leave snacks, drinks and the wifi code). I wouldn't leave a teen with little experience in charge of an under 5.

I know we want our kids to fend for themselves and learn but why didn't you step in and say something or at least help her approach the CFs before the day arrived?
She's been massively taken advantage of but I would have stepped in alot sooner.

Are you sure the £20 wasn’t for her to order a takeaway, and the actual payment will be given when they get home?

I think £8 to £10 per hour should be the going rate for a sitter with not much experience. They have underpaid her and took advantage of her inexperience and unwillingness to to talk about money.I think the best thing to do here is to learn from this.She needs to learn that it is important to agree a fair price for her time and also that there is nothing wrong to talk about money.

Depends. Easy kids, book and bed at 7pm? It's not that bad. It's just pocket money, not a job.

Round here its £8 for a 16 year old, and older ones (18 year olds, local students) tend to be £10-12

That's an absolute insult to your daughter

Useful life lesson. Your daughter needs to get past her squirminess if she doesn't want to spend her life being underpaid or actually exploited.

Maybe the two of you can do some roleplay? This really is an essential life skill.

I think, I she can literally do nothing unless an emergency then £50 might be ok

I pay my baby sitter £10 an hour.

Absolute piss take especially as she was working from 5 so had to do bedtime and feed them etc. the girls from nursery all charge £10 an hour for babysitting so I’d expect an unqualified teen to be on less but I’d have thought £40-50 would be about right.

We pay £5p/h rounded up plus a take away, I get her fave snacks/drinks in and a lift or taxi to and from ours. She obviously gets free range of the telly/Internet/any of the games consoles and things. She's 17 and our girls are older. They're usually in bed or ready for bed and just need telling it's time.

Even then I think we get a fab deal! A trustworthy teen willing to give up an evening is worth their weight in gold!!

hmm, I think it depends.

At that age, most of my babysitting was spent sitting in front of the TV.

Wow, they are really taking advantage of her naivete. I am not impressed by them at all. I wouldn't trust people who are this cheap.

@me4real

Would she brave enough when they get home to ask for "the rest of my money"?

@sparepantsandtoothbrush ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

I'm not sure why that's any more funny than the mum of an almost adult turning up and asking for it as others have suggested? She's almost 18, I'd be encouraging my "child" to speak up about it at that age. They're royally taking the piss

@nancy75

So she’s there now if I’m reading this right? Tell her when they get home to ask for the rest of the money - it’s £x for 8 hours & you’ve only paid £20. I know it’s tough to ask for money but they are absolutely taking the piss out out her.

I was going to suggest this. I can imagine how nerve racking it would be for her, but she needs to tell them it's not on. If it ever happens again with someone else I'd be telling her to say "X is a fair wage for the evening and I'm not staying to get less" and leave. If she needs support I'd be there in the background while she says it. I'd rather tonight's lesson for my teen was how to stand up for yourself, rather than just some people are twats and will rip you off.

@Rexthesnail

Nope, about 15 yrs ago. I was devastated

That's absolutely shocking.