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Paid childcare

Discuss everything related to paid childcare here, including childminders, nannies, nurseries and au pairs.

How much would you pay for this type of childcare?

11 replies

HerRoyalNotness · 14/05/2011 21:15

I'm trying to work out if DS1 (4yo) can keep going to his very good preschool when I go back to work, but there are no options of childminder pick up etc.. (we're in Canada).

I have a plan to sign him up for the extended sessions at preschool so he'd be there all day until 3.30. A friends daughter (16), would then pick him up and take him to our home until I got in at about 5pm. How much would you pay per day for this? I've asked her to work out a rate, but she won't (she wouldn't when we use her for babysitting either).

I had in mind $10/day. Is this too low?

Also for mid term, she'd be having him all day, and I need a rate for that as well.

I'm trying to work it all out now to see if it's affordable (preschool v.v. expensive as it's private), before I commit to this plan, or stick with sending him to daycare.

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nannynick · 14/05/2011 21:52

When I was 16 I used to get £1.50 or maybe £2 per hour. It was 20 years ago though.

Can you find something to compare it against? Perhaps something like how much a teen would be paid for doing a paperround perhaps.

mycatoscar · 15/05/2011 16:41

can you not pay her the same hourly rate she gets for babysitting?

AMYJ1234 · 15/05/2011 17:30

I would pay her enough to make it worth her while so she doesn't end up looking for an alternative job. You'd be otherwise stuck if there is a shortage of 'wrap around' care in your area. Also just check regarding her commitment for the whole year- she is quite young.
Using the services of a 16 year old - you will have no insurance should the worst happen - just things to consider? (gosh im full of doom and gloom today!)

HerRoyalNotness · 16/05/2011 00:53

Thanks for the advice. Not sure about the insurance side of things.'spoke with them again today and their mum is more on the side of teaching them about commitment and responsibility than how much they get paid. Have stressed to them how much I will be relying on them, although here and there I am only 15mins away if they can't make the pickup for some reason.

We normally just give them $40 for a feehrs sitting as they come together )3 of them) and we don't go out that often so can give a bit more. I'm inclined to go with $5/hr and see what they say.

A few other things have to fall into
Place before it can happen anyway

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HerRoyalNotness · 16/05/2011 00:54

Btw just to be clear, what kind of things should I be thinking about when people say you'll not be covered by insurance?

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Bumply · 16/05/2011 09:43

I asked my sister who's a retired teacher in Canada. Her response is below. Hth.

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In BC the minimum wage is about to go up to $10/hour and about time too.
You are not supposed to pay less than that between strangers.
However, between friends and neighbours, on Salt Spring Island, the sitter might well think $10 too much and be a bit embarrassed to accept it.

However, at the school, teenager offspring of parents attending a parents meeting get $2.50 per child (that is, however many little ones there are to supervise, and however many supervisors there may be, the parents of little ones put $2.50 into the kitty per child they are dropping off, and the available teen crew divide the total evenly between themselves. (That way it's a bonanza if you're alone and the load is heavy, but if there's lots of you to have fun with, you may have to divide $2.50 (and the kid) between you, which the teens seem to feel is Just & Right. Incidentally, if no teens turn up (a rare event - it can be a chance to do your homework if there are enough little ones to play together on the carpet with all the goodies in the Pre-School classroom), an adult does it - for the same rate, accepted as compensation for volunteering to miss the meeting - a few do usually take it in turns, not to miss the whole meeting.

My own guess would be that $10 for 3.30-5.00 would be just fine to offer a 16 year old - certainly where I am.

I'd suggest this be offered, and carefully watch the body language and facial expression to check that it's not too cheap; if the 16 year-old shows any sign of disappointment, you can say that's the rate on a trial basis (give an end date - might be after 3 times) after which you can both sit down together to discuss the rate again.

"You get what you're willing to pay for" has long been a standard piece of cliché advice, but not at all true in my case (I mean if you were paying me; I'd MUCH rather not be paid at all, so I can say thanks but no thanks next time, if I didn't honestly enjoy myself the first time! But I'm 62, not 16...). It's true that a teenager will stick at a plum job that's the envy of her peers, and really try to make a go of it. But more than anything else, it's probably all going to depend on how the child takes to the teen, and vice versa. You want the situation to feel OK, and the relationship to have a hope of developing into a mutually satisfying one.

I'd say don't ask back anyone who complains about your child, or anyone your child complains about, if there's any lingering tension. (At the school, pre-schoolers tend to adore teenagers, and vice versa. But one-to-one that might be different.)

I'm vaguely aware that if you are employing anyone, including for babysitting, there's a regulation I'm not up to date on, about minimum hours per week (4, the last time I noticed) - that drives both parties crazy.

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annh · 16/05/2011 09:59

I think Bumply's advice is probably the best you will get. It's almost impossible on a mainly UK focused site to advise accurately on the pay and any other issues in another country. Just because a 16-yr old might not be covered by insurance if anything happened here (I'm not sure what that means either) doesn't mean that the situation is the same in Canada.

nannynick · 16/05/2011 10:23

Even here in the UK insurance didn't come into consideration 15 years ago. I would expect parents still use teenagers to babysit now, even though those teenagers would not be insurred to provide that care. The risks are quite low in my view and I'm yet to be convinced that nanny insurance would actually payout in the event of a major claim (such as death of a child) - has anyone actually known of an insurer to payout?

AMYJ1234 · 16/05/2011 13:12

The lack of insurance comment I made was just a thought. I suppose as a childminder it is a compulsory element of being registered. If I was caring for a child and they had an accident which lead to you having to make your house wheelchair accessible for instance then you would be able to claim against my insurance. However, this all sounds a bit too depressing so sorry for bringing it up - I was just trying to be helpful.
I hope all goes well with your plans.

HerRoyalNotness · 16/05/2011 14:09

Thanks Bumply for checking that out for me, fantastic.

Amy no, i'm glad you raised the point, and appreciate that. It is something to think about.

I'm getting myself in knots a bit about it all. We're abroad from our families and aren't used to asking people for help. When my friend just mentioned it to me i thought it could work out well for all of us. I do trust her daughters, very sensible teenages, and responsible and DS1 has GREAT fun when they have babysat previously. Just as I thought I was getting somewhere, the timing of their school finishing doesn't really suit picking him up, but they can do it 2/week so I just need to see if someone else can help out for 2days for 15mins until they can get there. The complications of all this and trying to find daycare for DS2 are somewhat putting me off going for a third Grin

Thankyou others for your advice too.

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AMYJ1234 · 16/05/2011 14:50

HAHA - gosh its a full time job sorting this stuff out before you even think about working! (probably how I came to be a childminder in the first place!)
Well hope all goes well - let us know!! x

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