To think she should pay my DD more?

[DishyFly]

DD has got herself a little summer job this summer helping the neighbour with her dog walking.

She is to go in during the day and take the dog out for a walk and she is allowed to stay around there for as long as she likes, etc. she is very happy because we are a busy household (3 siblings that are a decade younger than her)

Neighbour is paying her £15 a week. That's honestly nothing. I'd normally have got that back in the 80s. DD seems happy enough but I feel a bit like I should be encouraging her to know her worth. It's a lot of effort every day and I don't think neighbour would be happy if she skipped it on any days, etc.

DD is 14.

I think it would depend on how it came about. Did your DD offer to walk dog to help out and then neighbour offered pay something, did neighbour approach and ask and stipulate price or did DD seek employment? Maybe neighbour is struggling financially and that's all she can afford or is more elderly and feels that £15 goes further than it used to?

I think it's a credit to her, and to you, she's got off her bum and is doing this. I'd commend her for the work ethic and let her be excited about it.

I'd say at least £5 a day, if not £10

Your neighbour is a CF

We pay £15 a walk, £15 for five days is very stingy, £25 would be more reasonable. It’s also worth pointing out that while your DD benefits from spending time in their house it’s also good for the dog to have company so it actually benefits them both.

You pay £15 per walk. To a 14 year old? Who then hangs around at your house afterwards? Would that be a 14 year old with tax, NI and insurance (and probably a vehicle) for dog walking?

I’m not sure why you felt the need to opt for the sarcastic reply, but to clarify if it’s helpful. The disparity between £15 a week for a 14 year old and the £75 plus it costs us for a professional dog walker (who does not use their car) is huge. If we also ask the walker to dog sit for an afternoon each day the price would go up to around £150 plus a week. So even taking into account a professional adult dog walker’s outgoings the amount the neighbour is paying the OPs DD is peanuts compared to their alternative of a professional walker. Just because someone is a teenager doesn’t mean they should be ripped off or we as adults should be endorsing them being ripped off.

£5 per day absolute minimum I would say, so £25 per week. Even that is a bargain.

Is she enjoying the 'job'? If so the money is a nice bonus.

I've done fed cats etc while neighbours are away for free. Sometimes I get a cheap bottle of wine or two, sometimes nothing.

I think £5 a day is more like it assuming job takes an hour.

@XelaM £25 every day? How many hours? That’s a lot of money to spend on dog walking

I agree with this
She will have free use of house, water, electricity, possibly food. Most of all, quiet time/space from family

3 times per week. Sadly, I have to be in the office on those days and she takes him and walks him with her own dog. After their walk she takes him to her house and he's with her and her dog for about 8-9 hours whilst she works from home. He's a very chilled dog and just sleeps next to her dog all day between walks, so I think it's a good deal for both of us.

I walk dogs part time and charge £15 per 1 hour walk for one dog. If she's doing a good job and obviously trusted with the dog I don't see why she can't get similar to this

Clever neighbour - she’s sold the extra job of keeping the dog company as a perk rather than a task to be paid for.
£15 is very low, I’d feel she was taking the piss

Yes, I think encouraging her to ask for more next time is a good idea. £5 a day would feel more appropriate and an extra tenner over the week is neither here nor there compared with the cost of a professional dog walker.

I don't think I'd push her to renegotiate with the neighbour this time, or do so myself. However I might be tempted to make it up to £25 myself afterwards if I could afford it, telling her I'd noticed how hard she'd worked.

I think if you don't have teens it's easy to be out of touch with what things cost to them. I think they've been badly hit by inflation. £3 barely buys a coffee these days.

Is it a job? Or are both sides doing each other a favour, where both benefit?

This.
My dd used to walk a neighbour's dog regularly, for free, because she enjoyed it.
It sounds like the neighbour is doing your dd a favour as much as dd is helping the neighbour.
Consider it an 'investment' too.
She now has work experience and a reference for more work as she gets older.

My dd used to go an help a friend of ours with her dc quite a lot, before she was old enough to really be left as a babysitter, but the experience (and therefore confidence) she gained was invaluable when she was then old enough to babysit. Plus - and I think this is really important, and is relevant in your dd's case - she actually enjoyed doing it, and it gave a bit of structure to those days.

It’s not really “a lot of work” though, is it? Your daughter gets to play with the dog & free access to the house and gets a bit of money. She’d probably have done it for free. The money’s a bonus.

If your DD takes the dog out for 40 mins which is time my dogs get twice a day then that's about 3.3 hours per week. That works out at about £4.50 per hour. If your DD is happy I would leave her. She can escape her younger siblings every day. Are you sure you just don't want her to entertain or help with younger siblings?

A friends son, also 14, walks dogs on school breaks. Charge is £5/walk.