How much should you pay a teenage babysitter?

[agalch]

My 15 yr old son and his gf have been asked to babysit on Friday night for a parent i used to childmind for.

Not sure what babysitters get paid these days.

Any ideas how much to ask for?

Round here (Herts) £4 per hour is the going rate

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I pay them the same as everyone else.
They're doing the same job.

£6 an hour.

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Sorry posted on teenagers and childminders
Not sure if your question was for me but i go out 1/2 times a yr lol

Should get them to sit for my 2 lo's eh?

moondog - babysitting for friends & family is not subject to employment legislation and in any case £6 is well above the minimum wage for a 15 year old - even for an 18 year old it's £5-something.

Forty,I'm happy to pay them over the odds.
I feel it reflects what an important job I consider it to be.

In any case, £5 seemed the norm five years ago.

Shouldn't we take account of inflation?

I pay £4 per hour and that's N London.

i pay £3.00 per hour to the girl down the road and £5 an hour to nursery nurse......merseyside area

in all fairness, most of the time, my kids are in bed and asleep, so i am paying someone to sit in my lounge, drink my tea, watch my telly and eat my biscuits!! i pay girl down the road extra if after midnight and she has to put DS to bed ..he is 7, so all she has to do is say 'bedtime'!!! £6 per hour is very very generous.

moondog - I don't for a moment dispute that it's important, but presuming that you wouldn't allow a teenager you didn't know well to look after your kids, don't you think that sitting in front of your telly eating choccy biccies isn't exactly taxing? Most teenagers I know like playing with younger kids anyway. I'd only pay £6 if I was getting them to scrub my floor, which of course isn't important at all!

I asked this a while ago
Can;t remember what the advcie was but I went somewhere down the middlle ish - well near the lower end to be truthful
Girl over the road is lovely and is 14 - I give her about £2.50 and hour - DD is always in bed anyway and never wakes up so she just watches telly and eats crisps in my house rather than hers.
She enjoys it and is more than happy witht he money.

Minimum wage.

The job isn't taxing but they are responsible for the welfare of your kids after all and will be there should anything go wrong.

We rarely go out, but use the 14yo dd of the nursery owner when we do. Her parents are just across the road and they know our kids.

moondog etc - you're generous and I respect that.
Actually I never use babysitters - mine usually stay over with a friend or my mum. I babysit for friends and they pay me NUFFIN. (I do eat a lot of their biscuits, though!)

oh god dont all be so blardy sacntimonious abotu it.

"i paya as they are loiokgin afetr my precious angels "- oh so for 50p less a n hour they wont fgs??

you choose them purely on value for money?

I am very good value for money - i never eat more than a whole packet of biscuits even if i'm there till 2 in the morning!

Forty,I don't pay them for sitting on their arse.I pay them for what may happen.

Nowt sanctimonious about that.

Absolutely not. Maybe DVC had PMT yesterday?

Well ds1 and his gf are babysitting tonight.The mum came round with the kids yesterday and met ds1's gf(already knows ds1).

Said she will text me today and let them know what time they need to be there but she doesn't know when she'll be back.

So i will say it's 4 pounds per hr before 12 pm and 5 pounds per hr after 12pm.I don't want them giving up their Friday night and getting paid peanuts.

Cheers for the advice,bet your babysitters think you are great moondog,you clearly value the people looking after your kids