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

£60 sounds fair but maybe it depends where you are? In Manchester that would be fine, generous even. If she doesn't want to do it say no. It's a late night and personally always make sure I'm back by midnight for my babysitters. I pay £6/hr for teens. Somewhere between £20-35 depending on the length of evening. I also get in snacks and drinks for them. And I've been known to run babysitter who can't drive back home.

Women’s work isn’t it. So people don’t value it 🙄

Are they joking? 20 is the standard rate where I am, which would make it 100 on a normal day. But NYE? I’d double it as a paying parent.

I'm sorry, the majority will be sleeping? Not in any of my friendship groups, working groups, or neighbourhood 😂

Its supply and demand. Our lovely babysitter is normally free for the average Fri/Sat night, has about 20 on/off clients when needed. Out of those 20, she told me she'd been asked to sit for half on NYE, and even more friends of her clients. Babysitters round here charge double their usual fee - at least - so minimum of £30ph, and will be booked up over a month in advance.

OPs daughter is different as she's not a 'normal' sitter so doesn't have all the options. But if she looked for jobs she'd find one far higher. My local FB group is crying out for last minute sitters right now.

I used to get £20 for a night of babysitting and was chuffed with that so £60 to do barely anything and chill is a good deal especially if she isn’t an official babysitter with a dbs etc

So you know the vast majority of people in the UK do you? Your Xmas card list must run into a third volume.

Whether it is a normal working day or not is utterly irrelevant. NYE is a premium night in the year where things will cost more as there is high demand. One of the reasons there is high demand is that the people doing babysitting, entertaining, offeirng hospitality etc are giving up their own chance to celebrate in order to do so. A lot dont want to do that so the ones who are prepared to work will take advantage of the fact that there are a lot less of them available and charge accordingly, supply and demand. Its why the band my local pub are charging twice as much for NYE. Its why the staff get paid an increment for working NYE and its why babysitters charge more.

If she is not happy with 60 quid, then she doesn’t need to do it. I’ll do it for her.

That is stingy, id say more like £100 for NYE

In 2024-5 on NYE - at least £15ph. She is being paid to be the responsible adult should anything go wrong.

30.00 an hour, plus a taxi home

To be fair in my house you’d be up every hour 😂 not every kid sleeps through…

Is your daughter a registered self employed babysitter who will be paying tax and national insurance on her wages from the night in that case?

I would say £100 is reasonable.

I'm 62, live in NW Devon area, very responsible - happy to babysit on NYE for £75+frills. PM me.

For NYE I would say £100 which is £20 an hour.

Same. But bear in mind that this is mumsnet after all, where a lot of people earn £60 an hour for doing lazy office jobs.

I was always paid double on New Years Eve when I was younger and worked in a pub.

She'll most likely be sitting watching telly
She doesn't appear to have any other plans
She can say no if she likes
But if she does accept she needs to be absolutely clear on Ts and Cs if they're late back

Should be no less than £20 per hour so £100 if they get home on time. I’d never agree to a flat rate for babysitting.

I would charge £20 per hour up to midnight and £30 per hour (or part thereof) after midnight on NYE

So if the couple went out from 8pm - 1am I would charge £80 up to midnight and a further £30 for the hour after midnight making a sum of £110 for the night.

Was that in 1984? Because £20 then is worth around £90 today..

As a qualified professional living in London, the minimum I'd want all year round is £15 per hour. I think that's the minimum they should pay her at least. I'd probably throw in a takeaway because it's NYE and that's a nice thing to do. I guess it depends on where you live, is she qualified etc

£60 seems fair as it’s not exactly doing any ‘work’ but i would expect to be picked up and dropped home aswell if your DD has no transport
it is minimum wage if your daughter is under 21

how did this offer come out?
If DD mentioned that she didn’t have plans and her manager saw the opportunity it might be a bit tricky to ask for more or to say no. It might affect her relationship with her manager . So she probably need to agree to £60 or say that her plans changed ( but to be very convincing about that)

For NYE at short notice, I'd pay £100.