To ask how much you’d expect a babysitter to cost on NYE

[ThatMauveRaven]

20yo DD has been asked (last minute) to babysit her manager’s two young children tomorrow night. They’ve offered her £60 in cash to be there from 8pm-1am. The two kids will most likely be asleep in bed, so she won’t exactly have to do much work but I still think that this is quite stingey considering it’s New Years Eve!

Thoughts?

YABU - £60 is enough
YANBU - I’d expect to pay more

Thank you. That's very well explained.

WHAAAAAT?!

I can't believe he did that. I really really hope nobody offers to do it. She absolutely should stand her ground. Actually (and this totally depends on personal finances of course) but if I was her mother I'd be so proud of her for sticking to her guns and refusing to be taken advantage of that I'd give her the £60 myself if she ended up not babysitting for him.

What an absolute CF! Valuable lesson for your daughter though - it's dog-eat-dog out there and managers will take advantage where they can!

Yes - ESPECIALLY if you were someone's manager. I'd be concerned about coming across like I was taking advantage in an unequal power relationship, so I'd definitely make sure I paid above market rate to make that clear!

Of course she doesn't have to do it.
£85 tax free isn't really peanuts though, and I think it's a reasonable offer for someone unqualified to do 5 hours of work.

For £85 I’d do it, she’s not doing anything else so why not, it’s really not that cheeky.

She values her time as worth more than he (and you and others) do. Which is also reasonable.

£60 is plenty for an evening of babysitting sleeping children. She is just sitting watching TV!

All the nonsense about minimum wage and living wage - this is not her job, she is not a qualified childcare provider, she will not be paying tax or national insurance on this "earning", she is not being paid a wage. She is just babysitting, and the children will be asleep.

I looked into babysitters for NYE and the minimum has been double standard rates with most places asking for triple. If I were your daughter £100 would be the bare minimum; also is unlikely they’ll be back by 1am/ on time.

I was paid £30 as a 15 year old in 2005! And I felt hard done by then. £60 these days is a bit of a piss take for new years eve.

Now she won't be earning anything 🤦‍♀️

So what did she decide to do OP?

Which is absolutely fine if she doesn't want to do it.

It's stingy, for sure.

For me, I wouldn’t feel comfortable paying anything less than £100 for New Year’s Eve. Due to the nature of the event she’s sitting for, it’s likely she won’t be finished until the early hours, and whether it’s sleeping children or not (hopefully it will be 😊) it’s still putting her in a position of responsibility that I feel reflects such a sum. But as previous posters have said, if she’s not happy with £60, she can always decline.

Wow and this is why we hardly ever go out, I couldn't imagine giving a local teen £100 or so to look after sleeping children! I got a fiver back in the early 90s and I was very happy with that. I appreciate she's an adult but it's not a proper job with T&Cs, it's easy money.

Ha ha-oh dear! Looks like he’ll be staying in with his kids tonight then.

Pyongyangkipperbang reckons £200, go for it LOL

Are these people qualified and do it as a business? That would be the difference here.

Its hard to believe that they’re not all desperate to look after his children on NYE for £12 an hour. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

If he does come back and offer your daughter the £100, if I was her I’d say my prices have gone up due to the now very, very late notice.

Tight bastard.

Just out of interest is anyone on here actually paying £150 to someone to babysit their children this evening?

Well most responsible people don’t hire a local teen to watch their children and home, especially when they are that small. I prefer not to go out or limit it to a few times a year than have a 16 year old in charge of my kids.

I don’t understand mn sometimes. Recently someone had a work or interview emergency, another thread about someone whose partner couldn’t attend the birth of DC2 because of lack of childcare. I suggested using childcare agencies, booking a dbs and reference checked nanny and other posters went mad, you are crazy leaving your kids with a stranger, are you insane etc?

but if you want to go out, it’s apparently fine to leave your kids AND home with any local teen and ideally pay £5 an hour and a take away. And yes in an ideal world they are sleeping, but they might not be or wake up. Especially at NYE and with 18m old.
I still want the person to be reliable, responsible and not get drunk or invite mates for a party.

My youngest child is now 23 and I paid at least £10 an hour for babysitting.

Oh give over loads of people hire teens (often friend's older children) it’s totally normal. Perhaps not looking after very small children, granted.

Seems fair, she is not paying any tax or NI on that, so for cash in hand it's a win. Plus any food she wants. If you want more money then register as a babysitter and have all the dbs checks and self assessment