to find £6 per hour expensive for a 17 year old babysitter?

[evansmummy]

It's been a long time since i employed a babysitter and I was shocked when she told me this is what she charges! My childminder charges this, there are meals thrown in and she actually looks after my ds, whereas a babysitter would just have to sit!

Am I out of touch?

If you're planning on being out form 7 til midnight £25 would be £5 per hour and is a good compromise IMO. £20 would be £4 per hour which seems on the low side.

I pay my sixteen year old sitter five pounds an hour and double that for every hour after twelve. I think that as she is at home with my three children- even though they are in bed- she is responsible for them. No one knows what will happen and I trust her. I used to pay my sister the same - she was a teenager.

I think age of babysitter does make a difference in relation to experience and common sense etc - I'd expect to pay more for a nursery worker or nanny to babysit than a teenager who has no first-aid training etc.

When my children were very little I'd only leave them with nursery staff etc babysitting as DD used to cry/wake up a lot and need settling.

Now they're older I'm happy with a 16 year old babysitter who has little experience with kids as i think he'd have the sense to call us if there was a problem. But I wouldn't pay him as much as the nursery staff who are trained and that seems reasonable to me?

I think you're being a bit cheap! 7 - 12 ish is 5 hours plus. Your kids may be asleep for most of it, but I can guarantee they'll play up for a bit before they settle. My kids don't set a price for sitting - and normally are given £5 an hour and depending on drinking arrangements either have a lift or walk home. After midnight should be paid more, after all the sitter still has to stay up.

I'll be interested in your views when yours are doing the sitting!

If you can't afford it - you can't go out, simple as that.

I think you're being a bit cheap! 7 - 12 ish is 5 hours plus. Your kids may be asleep for most of it, but I can guarantee they'll play up for a bit before they settle. My kids don't set a price for sitting - and normally are given £5 an hour and depending on drinking arrangements either have a lift or walk home. After midnight should be paid more, after all the sitter still has to stay up.

I'll be interested in your views when yours are doing the sitting!

If you can't afford it - you can't go out, simple as that.

It does depend where you are.

We used to pay the equivalent of £5 an hour for our 17yo babysitter in Germany.

Here in Geneva they take between £8 and £9 an hour.

If I am happy with the babysitter, then I am ok paying that.

How long are you going to be out?

Sorry, just noticed. 7pm till 12pm. So 5 hours. £20 is not enough, imo.

I would offer her £25.

Hmmmm - I don't get this. The responsibility is the same whoever is looking after your children. In the incredibly unlikely even of one of the children being taken seriously ill or having a bad accident you would want whoever was sitting to phone an ambulance then phone you. If one of them woke up you would expect whoever it was to try and comfort them then call you if they couldn't.

17 or 50, it's the same job, so it should be the same pay.

I pay £5 an hour for our 16 year old babysitter.

I'm with seeker. Also would add that if an emergency arose and you felt the 17 yo wouldn't be able to cope as well as an older sitter, then why would you use her in the first place ?

We're getting ripped off with £9/hour tonight. For a Filipino woman who does childminding for a 7 year old and also some cleaning. She gets paid £8/hour for that, for 2 hours a day.

Trouble is we don't know anybody else and that's what she asked for, couldn't be bothered to argue.

Kids won't be sleeping though.

Don't think nationality matters any more than age when it comes to babysitting!

I don't think age should make a difference in the pay scale either.

We tend to go for a girl that we like, that the kids like and who takes time to enjoy the kids. Our current babysitter is only 16yo but she is fantastic, brings games with her and the DC adore her.

We also go for a local girl who can call her mum if there is anything that she cannot handle. Her mum can be here in 2 minutes.

Age is irrelevant as seeker says

They are doing the same job - looking after your children and home - and should be paid well to look after your most precious possessions

I'm 28 and babysat from 14 - 19. I started getting £1.50 per hour. Ended up getting £2.50 - 3 per hour. All in my village so no transport costs and rarely later than 1am but still - I wouldn't expect to pay more than £4.50 an hour to a teenage evening babysitter. Of course I only have one DS and he sleeps soundly, if there were several kids and likely to be awake then maybe more.
Oh yes and I never got paid for babysitting my siblings, unless I was losing out on a paid job because of it - and even then I'd only get max a fiver for the night! But my parents were skint and wouldn't have been able to afford going out if I had insisted on payment!

OMG, in London we pay £7-8 an hour for teenage babysitters - often £40 on top of our nights out. Which explains why we (a) don't go out very often (b) tend to rely on friends who we can babysit for in return rather than a paid babysitter. Though we do have three children, one of whom is a baby so potentially could require patting etc.

I was paid £2.50 an hour 20 years ago - I think £6 sounds reasonable.

£6 itself isnt alot, but it is for a 17yr

way over min wage which for a 17 is £3.53 and for 18-21 £4.77

i charge £10ph and have min rate of 4hrs, but im ancient at 35!!

Interesting the info about min wage. So technically I am right in thinking £6 a lot for a 17 yr old!

And in regard to the thing about age being irrelevant, I just guess I'm old-fashioned. When I used to babysit it was just for a bit of pocket money.

And I don't think it's fair to say that we shouldn't get to go out just cos £6 seems expensive. That's just a mean remark!

How many children will she be minding, and how old? I would expect to pay at least £7/hr for my lot, but they are many and have included at least one under 4yo who couldn't wipe own bottom for past 5 years.

I think its ok. I pay £6/hr to a 15 year old. Maybe I'm just a muggins, but it is hard to get a babysitter where i live (south-east but very rural), so i will pay whatever it takes.

I have one four year old who, mos probably will already be in bed and usually sleeps soundly.

I guess I'm gonna have to bite the bullet and pay at least £5. Man, we are not gonna be going out much at all at this rate!

I would say £6p/h is a little bit on the steep side, but no unreasonable if she is arranging her own transport to and from your house.

We pay a girl who used to work at DD's nursery £5p/h, but she drives herself to ours and home again and she can help herself to tea and biscuits. This often works out cheaper than using my SIL who does it for "free" but can't drive so needs picking up, taxi home (£12) and we usually pay for a takeaway and movie from on demand.

i think age is relevant, as i wouldn't have asked a teen to sit a really young baby, but am happy for them to sit now that dd is older, so effectively, they do have less responsibility. an older sitter is likely to have a car, so able to 'act' in emergency, whereas the teens i've used would have to call their mums for backup in worst case scenario.

also, the min wage reflects the difference in expenditure between a teen & someone who is prob paying rent, has a car etc.

minimum wage is the absolute minimum someone needs to be paid (tho thats debatable!) It isn't what you have to pay just because they are 17 or under