do you think £2.50/hr is reasonable to pay a babysitter

[brimfull]

becasue my dd thinks it's a bit cheap.

she normally gets between £3.50-£5.00/hr

She's nearly 16 and has done firstaid and babysitting course.

This is for babysitting early evening,child awake.

Would you think it cheeky if she told them she actually charges £3.50?

Between the hours of 5 - 7 I think she should request a minimum rate of around £7.50. This is assuming she can get to the house quickly with no travel expenses. If she has over 1/2 hours travelling time on top then she should ask for more, or if she is expected to complete specific duties within that time slot ie supervise supper and homework as opposed to just hanging out witht the children.

We pay our teenage babysitters around £4.00 an hour, but would never pay them less than £15.00 even if we only stay out for a couple of hours in the evening. With a 13 year old and an 8 year old, babysitting comprises of them watching TV together. ds1 would serve supper and puts ds2 to bed himself.

£5 an hour here ggilr

LOL at teenage babysitter getting £7.50 an hour plus travel expenses.

Can I just point out that some childminders get around £2.50 - £3.50 per hour on average. That is for a child who is in their care, usually whilst awake, the childminder will have done first aid, introduction to childcare practice, have been CRB checked, plus lots of other training which is done in her free time on a weekend or evening. She will also have had to put up no-smoking signs all through her house, have her house adapted to the requirements set down byt he regulatory body,have extra coat pegs put up so each child has their own peg, extra towel rails put up so each child has its own towel, buy extra bedding so each child has it's own bedding and in many cases have to provide food, nappies etc for the child. All out of £3.00/£3.50 per hour, plus tax and national insuranc and public liability insurance.
just something to think about

Should be around £5,

GGirl, think you are near me (Dorset/Hampshire border ?) A couple of my friend's DDs sit for use. We usually pay £10 which is for 7.30 to about 10pm. If we were gone 11pm I would pay £15. For the time/hours your DD is doing I would expect to pay £10.

saltire, then those childminders are under charging an awful lot. I have a few childminding friends and the least one charges is £4.50 and hour. Another charges £5 and 2 charge £5.50 an hour.

franny, I meant a flat rate of £7.50 for a two hour session - I'm not that generous!

If we are comparing to childminding fees, locally ours are between £3 - £3.70 an hour. But the majority of wages are pretty low here as far as I have seen.

We pay a 16 year old £3.50 an hour, but the kids are already asleep (or almost!), and she is untrained. So basicly she is paid £3.50 and hour to watch the telly and faff on the internet, which I think is fair!

The childminder I used for a bit last year was £4.75 per child - that was over £14 per hour from me, plus what he got from her other clients.

With childminders, you'd expect them to look after more than just the one child. Their hourly rate is multiplied by however many children they are looking after. I feel sorry for childminders who, for whatever reason, find they have just one or two children to look after, as it must be very difficult to make a living wage.

With a babysitter, you are paying them to look after your child/children exclusively, so a different wage calculation is IMO appropriate.

I said that the rate was between £2.50 and £3.50 on average. If I had tried to charge any more than the £.25 I did when I lived in Scotland then I wouldn't have got an mindees. CM's rates differ depending where you live, I know childminders in Lodnon who charge £5/6 per hour, but I know others who only charge £3.00 per hour, again it depends where they live and on the number of other childcare providers availiable

Obviously I didn't charge 25p per hour, it should have been £3.25 per hour

The national avererage for a childminder (so I was told by the NCMA is £3.50.

Saltire I understand your frustration, BUT if a cm is looking after 2 kids or more then the hrly rate is higher. This is babysitting fr 2 kids.

Personally I would pay £4 - £5 an hour

babysitters do work unsocial hours and basically can charge what people will pay
£4-£5 is minimum round here

thanks for all your replies

she walks there so no travel expenses

she does dinner and also helps child with music practice(dd very musical),and general playing.

I think we've agreed £3.50 is the least she should be asking for.

chocolateteapot-didn't realise you were local to me?
Where are you?
Don't feel you have to answer?
Crikey you may be my neighbour?
Am getting spooked now lol!

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Tigermoth thank you for explaining, I thought you had gone mad

Not at all.
My teenage babysitters only charge £3 per hour but we always give them more.

Don't worry ggirl, am not your neighbour ! I'm a bit further down the A31 to you, town beginning with W. They are having a big issue over cricket ground and Waitrose if that rings bells.

If you are where I think you are, I use your local shopping centre a bit. Wish I was a bit closer, your DD sounds more competent than I am and I would gladly pay her what she wanted to look after my two !

Seeing what she actually does in that time I think she should have £10 for the two hours. £3.50 is fine for the evening stuff but not what she is doing.

aah know where you mean chocolateteapot.

If I see a chocolate tea pot in town I'll give you a nod