Babysitting Question

hrchick72 · June 2010

OK ladies, I need your help! Background:

We will have DH's son for two weeks starting June 21 and during that time we will need a sitter for about 3 hours a day while I am at work and DH is at class. Henry is 8, just finished 2nd grade, and is very well-behaved and easy to be around. Not a lot will be required, other than to keep Henry entertained while we're gone. No lunch will have to be served because DH will be home from class in time for that.

So...I have a referral for a 13-year-old who we will be meeting with this weekend. She is my boss's niece and has been babysitting for a couple of years now.

We live in an area that has an average cost of living. The numbers equate to just about even with San Antonio TX or you can compare it to Chicago at about 75% of what it costs to live there.

Now for my question: What should we pay her? The total time spent will be about 22-23 hours over the 2 weeks. We were thinking $100 for all of it. We have NO IDEA what the going rate is these days and don't want to be way too low. We might need her again some day!

Thanks for your help!!

katyp51 · June 2010

I think $100 sounds good. My mom used to babysit all the time, I think she charged $10 a day for one kid. She usually had them 8-9hrs a day though.

paramedicswife · June 2010

When I used to babysit my cousins (it's been a while, summer of 03) I got $100/week for watching 2 (one 7/8yr old & one 4/5 year old) kids from 8-5 Mon-Fri. I'd be tickled to get what you're thinking of paying her!

titomo · June 2010

I would say that for a 13 year old, you could probably get away with paying $100 for all of it. But think of it this way; that averages out to $4.34 an hr. So that is a little bit low IMO. I have 3 kids, and most babysitters we use charge $8-10/hr. regardless of the number of children. I think we're in an average cost of living area as well. I'd probably just pay her $5/hr if she agrees to it.

This is a perfect stint to "try her out" though, since it's only a couple hours a day! Hopefully it's someone you'll like & be able to use again! Good luck!

pamila51510 · June 2010

I would say 5 bucks an hour would be good just a little over $100 That way she will feel appreciated. I know my daughter that is 12 almost 13 and all of her girl scout friends would be thrilled.

dvohnout · June 2010

I think $100 would be fine. When I was 13 (like 12 years ago) I would get $2 per kid per hour.

manda4paws · June 2010

i would say $100 is fine, especially for an 8 year old.

CourtneyBC · June 2010

I babysat at thirteen, and back then I made about $5/hr. If you did $5/hr and you ended up with 22 hrs, it would cost $110, which isn't much more than you're already suggesting.

mbf124 · June 2010

Since she's so young I think you can get away with paying her about $110-$120 total.

I'm from Chicago and babysit on a regular basis and get $12 an hour...so for 24 hours that would add up to $288. I'm NOT suggesting you pay her this much, but just wanted to put it in perspective since you didn't know what the current rates were!

I think $5-$6 an hour would be fine. She'll probably be excited to have any money at all.

hrchick72 · June 2010

Thank you everyone for your input! It really helped put things in perspective for us. I think what we're leaning toward is proposing $50 per week to her and then giving her a $20 bonus if she does a good job, which we fully expect her to do.

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