babysitting rates (London): advice please

[soyabean]

A neighbour's teenage daughter is going to babysit for me occasionally. she is 14 and her Mum will be at home just down the road. I will be not far away and with a mobile so easily contactable. Youngest children will be in bed, only my 11 yr old will be up for some of the time. So how much do you think I should pay? I dont want to take advantage; on the other hand she wont have to 'do' much and if I had to pay a lot I would end up never going out. I would be very grateful for any suggestions/experience.

Soyabean I have a very similar arrangement. We don't live in London but technically not that much further, think Gatwick.
Anyhow I've never paid our neighbours daughter (14) any more than £10 but that said the longest we've been out has been 8-12.
Sometimes we simply go the cinema 20 mins there 2hr movie 20 mins back, for that I give her a fiver.
We do make sure to keep her sweet though £10 on her birthday, extra ice-cream when the whole street is in getting one

Thanks Angelmother: that sounds about right. I dont really want to be tied down to an hourly rate. So maybe £5 minimum 'callout charge' and a bit more if its a longish evening. It wd never be more than 4 hours, usually 1 1/2 or 2

oh dear, have I been paying one of our babysitters above the going rate? We're in London too. She's 14 years old and her parents live a few streets away. Our sons are aged 4 and 9. We only use her when we go out locally and then for four hours max. I pay her £4.00 an hour or sometimes a bit more, plus £5.00 taxi fare home if her parents don't collect her.

This is only slightly under what I pay for an older baby sitter who takes more responsibility because we go out further away. But I don't drop the rate if I use her when we go out locally. I pay her between £20.00 - £30 plus for a 3 to 5 hour stint and sometimes extra for a taxi.

Is this too generous? I don't know if I should pay the teenager a lot less simply because she is younger.

I pay nearly-16 year old neice £3.00 per hour (dd is always in bed)

I pay nearly-16 year old neice £3.00 per hour (dd is always in bed)but I'm not in London (must read thread titles properly)

Tigermoth that does seem a lot but you have two children versus my one.

Blimey, I dont think I could run to that, Tigermoth but I dont want to exploit her. I have three children but the little one would be in bed and the others can sort themselves out. Hmm must keeo asking around! Thanks

Agency rates are £5 p/hr Mon-Thurs; £6 p/hr Fri-Sat. Plus annual agency fee. For that you get a qualified nanny or occasionally childminder.

When I rarely use my daughter's friend's big sister (aged 18) to babysit, I pay her either £15 or £20. She lives with her mum but her dad lives opposite my house so on the nights she baby sits she always sleeps at her dads.

Whenever she babysits she looks after my 3 children (aged nearly 2, 6 and nearly 11). The youngest is always in her cot asleep and mostly the 6 year old is in bed but a few times he has still been up when she has arrived but she has never had any problem in getting him to go to bed. The nearly 11 year old has the choise of either staying up or going to bed.

I normally have her at my house from 8:00 to (the latest 11:30). I have paid her between £15 for a night when the two youngest are in bed asleep and I am home by 11:00 or £20 if either the middle one is still up or I am not home by 11:30.

Thanks again, thats all really helpful. The girl I know is going to babysit from about 8 to 11 on sat eve. The 2 youngest will be in bed, the 11 yr old up for a bit. I'm thinking £10 or £12. Then if she does the occasional hour I'll give her a fiver for that.

Well we had our evening out, our friends' daughter babysat for three hours, with the youngest asleep already. We gave her £10 and her Mum said she was very pleased so thats OK!