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

In this case the children are 4 years and 18months. I wouldn’t hire a local teen with such small children.

And she has the right to name her price it say no! She doesn't want to do it for less than £100.

And that's fine.

As a side-note, I do some tutoring. I used to charge no less than £50 per hour. Some people thought that was way too expensive; that's fine. So don't hire me. Some people thought I was worth the money so did hire me. Also fine. These days I won't tutor for anything less than £60/70 an hour (I don't really have the time for it to be honest, and it needs to be really worth my while for me to do it). I'm not holding a gun to anyone's head - they can hire me or not. The same applies to this young lady in her situation. She has named the price she would like for this service, and it's entirely up to this man if he wants to hire her or not. Simple.

Yes, she can decide if it's worth her time or not. My point was that the offer is reasonable/not cheeky/seems generous to me. I don't think anyone is suggesting she has to do it.

I would go for an hourly rate rather than a flat fee as they may well be late home (hard to get a cab on NYE) so £15 p/h, definitely no less.

Good for you and your DD learning to know her worth, negotiate and turn down a cheeky offer at a young age. She'll go far and I hope she spends the evening doing something nice!

HNRTFT but £100 minimum. When I was 20 I wouldn’t have agreed to babysit unless I was very well paid!

Her worth? She's an unqualified girl just out of her teens (with probably little experience with children) who had no other plans for NYE so I'd say £60 is a decent offer for her.

@ThatMauveRaven- what did your DD decide on in the end?

Of course they aren't. All this minimum wage nonsense, it's not a 'proper' job, it's an informal bit of babysitting.

She's a 20 year old who could be out having a great time with friends. My DC at 17 was paid more than that for NYC a few years ago. (And no, not in London of the South East)

You're not paying for the arduous labour, you're paying for someone to give up their night out in favour of yours. If you want childcare on the biggest Going Out night of the year, probably for at least 5 hours and quite possibly more, you have to pay a premium.

£75. £15 per hour.

@maddiemookins16mum very easy to be so benevolent when it's hypothetical!

But Op said she had no other plans.

Bloody hell £20 for the whole evening? is it the 90s again?

So? The lack of other possible available babysitters makes the OP's daughter's availability very valuable.

She can trade that for the highest value possible, or she can enjoy a night at home not working for a cheapskate manager who'd nitpick over £15 on NYE, which would barely buy him two drinks.

(The cheapskate manager has counter-offered £85, the clock is ticking and he is risking his plan s ove4r what to him must be a pittance.)

That might change how much she is willing to do the babysitting for - but shouldn't change how much the parents are willing to pay for it.

He does sound a bit of a pisstaker. 60 is too low for NYE and short notice.

That said, she’ll be getting cash in hand and presumably isn’t DBS checked or whatever. So can’t really command “professional” rates.

So I think on balance £85 is alright. But then, time is running rather short so his best option is to up it to £100 pretty damn quick.

Update: DD politely refused the £85 offer and told him to have a good NYE. The staff group chat has around 80 young people in it - not a single one of them has taken the £60 offer so looks like he’ll be doing without childcare and staying in for the night instead. Shame!

She’s a 20yo healthcare student - DBS checked, works directly with kids (although not in childcare) and trained in paediatric first aid. £60 on the busiest babysitting night of the year isn’t worth the time or effort out of principle.

Result @ThatMauveRaven !

I'd be quick to remind your DD that he's had oodles of time to organise something, he left it to the last minute and he's now playing silly beggars over a further £15. Make sure if he contacts her again, she replies saying that she now has plans for NYE and can no longer babysit for him, no matter the money!

I think the £85 was fair. My nursery staff (who are presumably more experienced than your daughter) tend to charge £12 an hour for standard and I’d expect a premium for new year and the 12-1am slot.

It depends how much your daughter’s boss needs a babysitter as to whether she gets a sheepish acceptance of £100.

Update: DD politely refused the £85 offer and told him to have a good NYE. The staff group chat has around 80 young people in it - not a single one of them has taken the £60 offer so looks like he’ll be doing without childcare and staying in for the night instead. Shame!

That you know of. Perfectly possible they've messaged him directly and negotiated £150, a take away and taxis!

Nope - they’re all very close and have a separate group chat without said manager! They’re all taking the piss out of the £60🤣

Whilst I’m not saying your dd is wrong to refuse the 60, I am astonished that not one person out of a group of eighty would take him up on his (quite stingy) offer. It doesn’t add up, what with the cost of living crisis. £60 is a fair chunk of money, even if it’s not a great rate for NYE.

the mother might also be looking for a babysitter. I’m pet sitting at the moment for my brother. For free. If someone in my family needed kids taking care of tonight, I’d do it for free as well.

Sure. But this isn’t a need - it’s not a hospital appointment or an emergency or anything serious. It’s a luxury request by someone in a position of power and he should pay for his privilege.