AIBU to charge loads for after-school childcare and evening care?

[bookmarkymarky]

I am an occasional babysitter and day time childcarer.

I get asked at least 3 x per week if I can collect children from school and look after them until parents home from work. I could fill the slot 100 times over.....

(During that time cook and feed them their tea, do their homework or reading with them, make them get ready for bed - generally what when my own children were very young would often turn into the witching hour with very tired little people needing rest and quiet .)

....I have always said no, because it breaks the day up into a very short and inconvenient shift and it normally at between £12 and £15ph.

People seem desperate. WIBU to charge quite a lot for doing this shift for one family - £20 to £25ph? More?

I truly wonder what some people would pay, and what they do end up paying with other options?

I think it's fine.

Decide on a sum of money that makes doing the inconvenient hours worth it to you.

Tell everyone who asks that this is the price.

See what happens...I bet someone will pay it.

It's market forces. If someone is earning £50 an hour why shouldn't it they pay you to enable them to work more? Especially at short notice.

I’m surprised people are still asking three times a week even if you’re saying no! What are all the people who you say no to, doing instead? Or is it the same three asking every week 😂

I’d say £30 an hour and see what happens.

You might like it when you are earning a days wage in 3 hours. So it seems like a good thing to try. (I am biased though, because I couldn’t have done without this type of childcare).

Market forces. Exactly. Your time is worth what the market deems its worth. Go as high as you can go without attrition in demand. I did this with tuition. I first started out offering £25 an hour for physics, biology or chemistry tuition, had so much business and requests that I realised I could very easily double my price. Whenever I increased my prices, I did it for new customers but kept my existing customers on the original lower rate or at the very least gave them a large amount of notice that I was increasing my prices.

Where are you based? £20ph is pretty typical for a nanny in London.

A childminder can easily be £7 an hour per child so if they have three kids then £20-25ph to get all the benefits of someone at home, doing cooking and homework etc is a bargain.

I see no reason not to test the market if you’re being asked that often. Everything is worth what someone will pay! What would make it worthwhile to you? £100? More?

I do similar for a local family a couple of days a week and charge the equivalent of 18pounds an hour for after school, likely to increase at the end of the year. I mainly do after school and holiday care, and have a day rate for the holidays. Occasionally they ask for before school and I have a minimum charge of 2 hours, though they usually only need 45mins or so. Just set out your terms and they can accept them or not.

Seems reasonable to me!

You can charge whatever you want and see where the market is. I would only consider this sort of thing if it seemed worthwhile to me, so YABU.

A flat rate for 3-7pm even if they don’t need the whole slot makes sense because you can’t get a second job if it ends at 5pm. I would price at the higher end and see what happens

Charge as you feel fits the market, what do others charge for this service? I’d expect to pay £25ish per hour for it. I currently pay £6 per child for afterschool club as it stands and feel this is a bargain but if someone sorted their tea and got them ready for bed too? Definitely 100% would pay the £50-75

I'd happily pay that for a kind nurturing person to pick my child up from school and care for them at home. Just wish I could find someone!

I earn £180 to care for 2 secondary school age children.
They are independent, but need an adult in the house overnight.
6pm - 8.30am
i have dinner with them, chat to them, go to bed at night and check they are ok/have everything for school. They make their own packed lunch and breakfast.
It’s a delightful little job.

Where I live, usually the nanny rate is much higher for part time. Our nanny has a 3 hour minimum because it’s just not worth it for her otherwise. But you charge what makes it worth it to you and I would definitely have a minimum number of hours and be clear how partial hours work (our nanny will charge for 30 min increments). We do live in a childcare desert though so a low nanny rate is already 30/hour!

I charge a flat rate for after school care from 3-5.30pm of £17 per child as a childminder. That's in Scottish city so will be much higher in South & without dinner or any of the extras. Evening babysitters around us charge £15ph but that's usually starting around 7/8ish with expectation that children will already be fed & pretty much ready for bed.
£20ph sounds a bargain for what you'd be offering. You set the price to value your service & the fact you'd be giving up your time in the evenings when it doesn't particularly sound like you're that keen on do so.

Agree with pp to go high and have a minimum number of hours. This is the kind of care that is really difficult to find when a school day finishes at 3pm and a work day finishes at 5pm + commute and I think people would be willing to pay well for it, as having children settled at home is way nicer for them than still being at school at 6pm, however good the after school club is (and IME they’re basically the Wild West!)

So delightful it’s below NMW. That’s terrible!

I've always had nannies charge their usual rate per hour, but say that they can't do after school only and need at least 18 or 20 hours per week - so I paid for that and only used afte school 2-3x per week. Then if you're sick or need a bit of extra housework you have some capacity. I think that feels nicer than a nanny hiking up the cost per hour like a dynamic Uber just because they can.

@Offherrockingchair she's not working for the full 14.5 hours? Probably sleeping around 8hrs, which she would be doing at home, £180 for 6 hours work - if you could call it that, sounds quite pleasant - seems worth it to me 🤷🏼‍♀️

Thanks everyone. The idea of asking £100 per evening for 3.30pm to 7pm or part thereof seems like a good one.

I’m £24 per after school session at a local nursery. They have a large outdoor area and do lots of activities. £30 seems a lot but if there is demand why not?

Cleaners get £20 and hour, as should a child carer/housekeeper.

Our childminder charged £20 for before and after school care - £5 an hour, so £5 from 7.45am-8.45am and £15 from 3pm-6pm.

Would you be looking after the children in your home or theirs? If YOUR home, bear in mind also that you need to check the 2 hour rule. If the children are

• under 8 years old
• being look after for more than two hours a day
• being looked after in your home

and

• you are being paid for the care

You are automatically a childminder and not a babysitter and need to be Ofsted registered to be doing it legally.

Check at these hours you don’t have to officially register with a child minder with ofsted to charge them