Pay for babysitting or not?

[Silbury1967]

Our teenager babysat their younger sibling this evening for the first time so we could attend an event with some of the older kids. The younger ones didn't want to go and happily sat at home and watched a film while we were out.
My quandry is should I pay the older child for babysitting? That seems fair to me but the problem is when the older children were younger and babysitting their siblings they never got paid as we never had much money when they were young. They viewed babysitting as just another household chore like folding the laundry or hoovering their bedrooms.
Nowadays we have a bit more money to spare but it seems unfair to pay our younger child now when the older ones did the same thing for nothing 😒😒😒 WWYD?

I would pay it quietly. Just give him a few pounds when there’s just the two of you together and suggest that it stays between the two of you unless he’s asked.

I personally wouldn't pay my children to baby sit either way. They don't view it as something they need to be paid for and neither do we, they are happy to help us out.

It's not really like it takes a lot of work anyway, they're all just busy doing their own things as they would be if we weren't out. I don't think they notice we're gone tbh

No I don’t pay my two oldest to babysit. I told them I will babysit their dc one day so we will be even

Thankyou peeps 😊

My 20 year old babysits her baby sister about every 4 weeks, i always get her a takeaway or if doesnt want food i give her £20.

Its what id pay if someone els babysat.

Usually though if she gets money she tends to then spend it on her sister

increase their allowance on the basis of an average once a month (or x number of weeks average) babysitting