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

Strange isn't it how people are happy to pay a dog walker £20

Yes - and you'd paid them a damn sight more than that if you wanted them to walk the dog on New Year's Eve night!

Well if she doesn't have plans anyway why does it even matter us NYE?

It matters to her. That's literally all that matters. (And fwiw she clearly did have plans, she spent the evening in with a couple of her friends.)

She was not willing to do the work for £85. That doesn't make her cheeky, lazy, greedy, stupid or anything else. It just means she declined the job and enjoyed her evening the way she wanted to - as any of us are within our rights to do.

I literally cannot wrap my head around why people are upset with someone they don't know turning down a job she did not want to do for the money offered.

I literally cannot wrap my head around why people are upset with someone they don't know turning down a job she did not want

I think it’s a case of “how dare those jumped up youths not take any amount offered and demand higher wages! They should be grateful for tuppence ha’ppeny like I got in the old days”

Plus a side order of “I bet they’d claim benefits, the work-shy slackers.”

I think it’s great the tight-fisted boss couldn’t find anyone to take his skinflint offer. It’s one of the few nights a year babysitting can pay well.

I agree, and the irony is probably lost on such people that they are the entitled ones, expecting things for much less than their true value and being enraged at the idea that other people won't go along with it.

If thats all it takes then why not just leave them home alone?

If you are so sure that your babysitter will have such an easy time of it, why bother getting one?

Because you and I both know that that is not what you are paying for. You are paying for someone prepared and competent to deal with a sudden illness, accident or other incident. Someone who is sober and in control. Someone who will save your kids in the event of an emergency.

That level of responsibility is worth far more than £6 per hour per child and you know it.

she’s 20, that’s not a teenage babysitter - so it definitely should be more reasonable than that and her age should be reflected in the price.

In my opinion, occasions like new years should also be double pay. Babysitting on those occasions are limited and people are taking their time on those holidays to work, they definitely should be paid higher. I know it’s not the point of the post, but I think anyone who works on bank holidays and holidays should be paid higher than their usual wage.

DD went in to work this evening - said boss and his wife are sulking because they ‘had’ to spend their NYE at home.

I’ll get my tiny violin out for them..

🤣🤣🤣

🎻

Sounds like he promised her they could go out on NYE as he would sort the babysitting, and then left it to the last minute assuming one of the minions would do it......and found out to his cost that he was wrong!

Well, no matter what you think, it wasn’t enough money to make any of the 80 employees want to cancel their own NYE plans for it!

If you want someone to give up their own arrangements to allow you to go out, you have to make it worth their while!

Love this! Love that none of the staff on the WhatsApp group would do it for £60! And he didn't 'have' to stay home..
For £15 more pounds he could have had a night out! His choice not to pay it!

Shouldn’t have been so tight then!
Gobsmacked at the hate your daughter is getting on here-can only assume it’s from tight fisted misers who also underpay their babysitters, or Billy no mates who sat in New Year’s Eve because nobody invited them anywhere 😂
Good on your daughter for standing her ground! She is working around a really tough degree, she sounds brilliant and very hard working. You should be so proud 😊

I can't understand the argument made by some along the lines of "X get crap wages for shift work, so the OP's daughter shouldn't argue for her worth."

I know that NYE is different, but I’ve never got more than £20, even as an adult. 😳

It isn't different though. Just another night out. Maybe of more value to some people that then exploit others to do their regular jobs. Value is a perceived thing and has nothing to do with supply and demand or the people that do the actually important jobs would be compensated properly for their time. Look at who had to work in lockdown and those are the important workers.

What? We pay 15ph for babysitting.

I can see I’ve had the piss taken out of me. 😳

So do we. On a normal night, at normal times. 👍