How much would you pay this sitter....

[ChangeNameLikeIChangeSocks]

This is inspired by a lot of threads in which people talk about the cost of a babysitter.

It's 1998/1999, you have a 13 year old son and you want to go 300 yards down the road with your husband every Sunday evening for a 2.5/3 hour drink at the wine bar.

You will put him to bed before the sitter comes, usually, though he might still be hanging around. He won't need to be tucked in though, he will put himself to bed on those occasions, he is 13 after all, he's an only child.

The sitter is a 15.5 year old girl. Her 18 year old sister used to do the job but has gone on to uni so suggested the younger girl take over.

It's an easy job. She'll be dropped off by her parents, then sit on the sofa from 7-10, watch TV or do her homework on her lap. At 10 she'll be dropped home, half a mile away. By your dh. You'll leave her a crunchie or a double decker, and she can help herself to water.

You leave her wages on the table every week without fail.

But...

How much is in the envelope?

Hint: according to the BOE inflation calculator, money then would be about twice as much in today's prices - bit less, so add if you're paying her in 1998/9 money, or today's money, iyswim.

I used to get a tenner for exactly this.

I got a fiver for the same gig in about 1986 so I’d say a tenner.

Yep - a tenner and sometimes a taxi home was what I got at that time.

I'd get a tenner back in around 97..

What, in today's money or then money? You must say! 🤣

Then money £12 (£4 per hr)

It’s not the point of the thread but does a 13 hold need a babysitter?! When I was 13 in the early 90s, my mum would go away on work trips for 3-4 days at a time and leave me home on my own. I’d take care of the dog, cook my meals, wash my clothes, take myself to school and back. I did once fall down the stairs and injure my leg badly enough that I couldn’t walk and needed an operation but even then I managed to drag myself to the freezer for a bag of peas and elevated on the sofa to wait until she arrived home the next day. Not ideal (and no way I’d do it with my own 13 year old), but was a different time and I lived to tell the tale. 😂

Then money about £5. I used to babysit till gone midnight with 4 kids and was lucky to get £10 in the early 90's. Was a good gig as I got waitressing out of it which was much better pay.

I got 5 an hour for this in 2005 so I'm going with £10

Guessing everyone will answer in then money as you've said the year

I used to baby sit 3 kids, ages 2-7. in the mid 90s. Usually got around a tenner. I remember one night they didn't get back til gone 2am and I got £20. I was over the moon!!

£10-15 but I had 2 children, so I tended to pay around £5 per hour

yeah think £10 sounds about right for the time.

I think he needed a sitter because he was a boy 🤣

I'm intrigued because I feel like a sitter today would cost rather a lot more than what you are all saying.

The Internet tells me the average around here is £10 an hour today, so 3 hours then should come out at £15.

I used to get £3 an hour for babysitting in the late 90s so I will guess £10!

I used to babysit around that time for a 8/9 year old and got about £10 for 3 hours. Most 13 year olds wouldn’t need a babysitter.

Be careful using a baby sitter just a little bit older than your oldest child. I came home once to find the baby sitter and friend pissed, dd smug in bed after having a drink, and baby sitters friend had puked everywhere. Too much whisky I believe happened. Only the once though as all did learn from the Experience…

True, but whatever the age you still need to pay the sitter 😁

I used to get £2-£3 an hour for babysitting in the 90s when I was a teenager. So now I guess you’re looking at £6 an hour?
If one of the neighbour’s teenagers babysat for me as you describe I’d give them £20

Ah but I can assure you that this girl will never do anything naughty like that. It's 1998 and she just wants to watch Sunday night TV and eat that crunchie.

I used to get a tenner in about 2000-2004 sort of time.
Once I got £25 for sitting with some older kids and grandma who had had a fall.
I tried to give some back because I thought it was too much. I was minted then.

I would have made 12 for that job back then

If it’s £10 an hour I’d make 3 hours £30 not £15 OP

I got £1 an hour in about 1988. The neighbours Ben paid me to the 50 p for half an hour? So 2.5 hours was £2.50!

@happytobee it's average £10 now apparently

There is no way I would leave a 13-year-old boy with a 15-year-old girl, unless she was related to him. But in the past, I reckon she would be given £10 in today's money.