Babysitting pay help?

[LouiseAnastasia]

At the end of January I'm looking after three children for 24 hours whilst their parents are away. The parents are friends of my family and when I've looked after their children before I've charged £5 an hour but when speaking about looking after the children for 24 hours they suggested they'll pay me £20 for the day and night. Should I query this? Usually I don't mind being charged less as I understand that some people can't afford it but I'm starting to think I may be taking advantage of? The children are 9, 12 and 13 and I have childcare qualifications. Thanks for your help!

£20 for sole care for 24 hours? They are taking the piss.

This is completely taking advantage of you. I would expect at least minimum wage for the hours you are awake, which is £6.19 per hour. £20 is less than £1 per hour.

I'm quite tight but £20 is taking the mick. If I was paying someone with nursery qualifications for 24 hours for 3 children I'd be expecting to pay at least £100. I pay £80 for my two (admittedly preschoolers) to be at nursery from 8-6 so would be expecting to pay at least 1.5 times that.

I'm usually considered a bit of a skinflint, I'm sure on babysitting threads, but even I think that's taking the mick!
I'm not sure it's comparable to looking after little ones though Tincletoes as Nursery age children need to be entertained / looked after all the time, and 9 - 12 yr olds will pretty much self entertain, so I wouldn't expect to compare the two.

They are totally taking the mickey. There is a minimum wage in this country. £20 is the minimum we pay our sitter when we go out for a few hours. Have you worked for them before at £5 per hour? Explain that it it's your hourly rate but you would be prepared to discount it. You should be earning £120 for 24 hours. Ask your parents to support you in this so there isn't any query. I would say £80 is a fair price £40 per set of parents.

100 pounds in the minimum I would charge if I were you!

Yeah I know it's not the same in terms of effort required - but I just meant that if that was what I would pay for 2 preschoolers for 10 hours, it wouldn't be unreasonable to ask for the same x 1.5 for older children for 24.

Anyway at least we all agree that £20 is ridiculous!!

Agreed

I wd charge seven per hour for 16 hours and four pounds an hour for the eight sleeping hours as a minimum, so at least 150 ... And if split between two families that is v good value. Just say no, 20 is laughable...

150 per 24 hours is what i'd charge.

i got paid £150 per 24 hours last month, for 24 hr care of an 8 yo and an 11 yo

this is also rather similar to this...

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/childminders_nannies_au_pairs_etc/1651565-Pay-question-please-help

When it's put as less then £1 an hour I can really see they're taking advantage! I'll have to talk to them and say I won't do it for £20. Thank you all for your help and advice!

hhhm hard to believe this is for real... £20 for the day and night....

Course you query it

You say you normally charge £5ph £20 for 4hrs - so why would you work 20hrs more for no extra money

There is a similar thread about overnight care but for a longer period. People agreed that £100 per 24 hours would be about right.

2 threads near enough exactly the same? are you friends?

whats going on on mn atm???

1

its all odd
i clicked here earlier n this thread was deleted..now uts bk