Tell me about babysitting rates...

[dimpleknee]

I'm gobsmacked by babysitting rate- just been quoted £7-10 per hour! Possibly because I'm an older Mum who only got a fiver a night back in the day. Say you go for a meal and drinks with friends, leaving home at 7, back at midnight- £50??? Really? On top of night spends? Who can afford this?

Going rate for teens here is between £7.50 and £12 per hour depending on number of children and whether the teen is giving them dinner etc.

Mist of them volunteer at Rainbows or Beavers etc, so are known to many of the families as reliable and responsible.

The teen babysitters ‘bequeath’ the wealthy families to slightly younger friends or siblings as they age out and go off to university because they all love working for the high paying ones, quite naturally.

If we could find a babysitter that we like, then it would be a lot more than this to be fair. £15 an hour is run of the mill, and we’ve been quoted £20 with a minimum of £60 for a booking.

we only want to go out for a couple of hours to get away from our toddler, not even a whole night or anything.

Am surprised by the £15-20 hr rates

We are in London so it's generally more expensive here and we pay £10-12/hr. It does feel like a big cost for a night out but for us it's worth it a few times a year

Had a quick look at sitters.co.uk and they suggest £12/HR for London

I’m not really surprised by the rates. If you roll statutory holiday pay in with min wage then it’s about £12.60 per hour. If you’re self employed and I assume you should be then £15 ph It’s probably a minimum to take home minimum wage.

My DDs babysat for £7-£8 an hour with a bit more for late nights for our neighbours kids. They went out a lot and the kids were nearly always in bed. It was money for nothing - the girls made hundreds and hundreds from it and hardly thought of it as work.

I'd employ a teen and pay maybe £9 depending where you live and depending on what they have to do.

There are plenty of responsible teens around and if the kids are easy or asleep it's not comparable to other jobs.

If you are paying a professional then obviously that's a different t situation.

My 16-18 year old was paid £10 an hour (in the last couple of years).

Min wage isn't really relevant here as babysitters aren't employed by the parents.

It's not generally anyone's sole income, more a top up thing and is usually a fairly easy gig.

Our current babysitter is a teacher and she uses her babysitting time to do her marking, she charges £11/hr

You need to remember that most people pay tax on minimum wage, so paying £15 an hour cash in the hand is a lot!

That's a good point too

And I just realised the PP had also rolled in statutory holiday pay as well which you definitely don't need to do for a babysitter

I am a bit surprised by £15/hr, astonished by £20/hr that someone mentioned.

Average I see in my area is £12-£15 if they're doing kids food/bath/bed, maybe a bit less if they turn up when children are already asleep.
That's based on sitters who are already DBS checked, have references etc. They're generally qualified professionals who also work in a related field (teachers, nursery staff).

I am astounded that a Mother would think that 7-10 pounds an hour is expensive to keep
her children safe and happy !!! I pay my dog walker 15 pounds for a 40 minute walk ! Let's get things into perspective, These are your precious babies for heavens sake

Just got quoted £20 p/h!

I’d happily babysit for £10ph. As a mother of 4 and a granny with professional training I am also very reliable and trustworthy. I’d get a new DBS if I thought I could earn a bit of pin money.

Is that for a weekend in December ? That is absolutely peak of peak time it will be the most expensive night of the year.

We are South East ( not London) Dd gets £7:50/ hr double after midnight.

We pay our lovely babysitter £10 an hour and that seems like excellent value to me (tbf our kids are awake while she’s here, it’s not sitting and watching telly!). I have quite strong feelings about how much we devalue female care work and think it’s really important to treat it as a real job! God maybe we should pay her more 😂

@Neurodiversitydoctor No, standard rate. She used to be £18 per hour!