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

If the night out is worth £60 to them then its either worth that to DD or it isn't.

Market forces etc.

Unless she is a childcare professional I think £60 is reasonable if she wants to do it. I wouldn't have done it if I had other plans but I would've been more than happy with £60 to sit in someone else's house whilst their children are in bed.

I think they'll pay more than that for a 15 minute taxi!

Wow! I used to get £20 for babysitting as a teenager 30 years ago. I'm amazed the rate hasn't gone up in all those years.

Stingy

Our ocassional babysitter is 19. We pay her £10 per hour, I'd expect to pay double for NYE so £100.

I agree with this. No point complaining about minimum wage, if she was an actual babysitter she'd be self employed so minimum wage rates don't apply but even if they did, for her age it's more than NMW anyway.

She can say yes if she has no plans and make £60, or she can say no and make £0.

No idea when it was decided babysitting was a job for professionals who needed £25 an hour. It's always been a gig for teenagers to make some extra cash if they had no plans.

She's being paid 20% more than minimum wage and you're teaching your daughter to sit at home and do nothing instead of working to earn £60. £60 would cover one months electricity for me. Is that really the work ethic you want to instill?

I think that's very stingy for NYE. And I'd assume if they're being a bit cheeky about that, they're probably the type to be cheeky about the time they get back too.

I think that’s too low for five hours on NYE and considering that this is a 20 year old, not a 14 year old or something.

New Year Eve?

Wouldn't work for less than £25 an hour as a babysitter.

It usually double hourly rate

For a qualified dbs first aid nanny £25/30ph

Assuming she has no childcare exp or first aid or dbs

Yes they are asleep but they may wake

10ph is stingy

£60 is far too low

If she’s not paying any tax on it, it’s like earning 100 for the time isn’t it? I think it’ll be hard to compare with an agency etc precisely because they have to pay NI/income tax etc. however, I think it’s bad form for her manager to ask as it puts her in a position where she probably feels she has to say yes which is unfair.

I used to get £5 a night in 1990 for 7-11pm. I was robbed. Plus I had the responsibility of four children and the night safe key for a big local company which got dropped off.

Will she be declaring it to the taxman then and paying tax on it?

Or alternatively, she's teaching her daughter that a smart way to look at the world is through market value, and not based on the absolute minimum someone can get away with. Do you think her manager has an ounce of regret negotiating their salary based on the same?

56p above minimum wage for someone above 21!

Its a good point, minimum wage for a 20
year old is £8.60 so despite OPs outrage her DD would be working tax free for more than minimum wage. Personally I’d have offered £100 but £60 is not the insult OP made out it is.

No it really wouldn't.

Don’t be ridiculous and don’t assume things about my DD. She has worked really hard all year, (both in uni hospital placement and her part time job!) and had her first day off in the entirety of December on Christmas Day..

My years of ‘teaching’ and ‘wanting to instill work ethic’ are done. She’s a fully grown adult and can make her own decisions. I’m simply asking whether she’s being taken advantage of as we were both unsure. If she’s not going to be paid fairly on a pricier than typical babysitting night then out of principle I wouldn’t want her doing it

I pay £40 for 3ish hours on a normal Saturday. And my babysitter brings her boyfriend! (We know him, he’s not a random stranger!)

I’d expect to pay much more on NYE. (Although I remember doing it for far less myself 10 years ago.)

NMW for someone her age is £10/hr, so £60 is only a 20% uplift, which is piss-poor for New Year's Eve. She's surely in a position to negotiate a bit, because without her, the manager is likely to be staying at home to see the new year in, having left it this late to make their babysitting arrangements!

It really doesn't matter if there's not going to be much 'work' for the DD to do. The fact of the matter is that she COULD be out doing something much more fun instead, so why shouldn't she be well paid for not having the freedom to do that?

This.

We pay £12 per hour for a normal evening to our neighbour’s daughter who works at a nursery during the day.

For NYE for 5 hours I would give £100 at least instead of the usual £60.

That's a ton.
Anyone wanting to pay less obviously hasn't a clue.