Help a Reader: What to Charge as a Babysitter

Here's a question left recently by a reader on an older post of mine:

My neighbor wants me to start babysitting her nine month old. She works unusual hours: Monday - Friday he'd be at my house 6am - 1 pm and then 2pm - 8pm. and then 10 hours on Saturday. Is 90$ a week fair? I'm 16 by the way, but I don't just sit the kid in front of the TV; we read books, go to the park, take walks, or paint. I give him all three meals, snacks, give him a bath, and put him to bed.

Do the math. It's 13 hours a day for five days a week -- plus 10 hours on Saturday -- 75 hours in total each week. $90 seems to be waaaaaay low. Do you agree? What do you think is the right amount for her to charge?

Comments

[Traciatim]

I agree, way too low. I used to pay 75 a week for after school care from 2:15 - 5:30 Monday to Friday for my daughter. My mother in-law watched my son for the same price full time (as a deal to help us out), but full time as in 8AM - 5:30PM.

Why not call around to day cares in your area, find what their prices are per week and charge somewhere near that? Especially since you are pretty much raising a child at that point and not just babysitting.

[MC]

I live in the Midwest, where babysitters come relatively cheap.

For my 2 elementary school children, I pay the nanny $10/hr. She picks the children up after school using her own car, takes them to my house, and helps them with their homework until I get home.

I also pay her $10/hr for reserving her time even if I don't end up using her (for example, she's available to babysit for me every weekday afternoon, but if the kids spend time with their Dad instead, she still gets paid). In addition, I give her "first dibs" on other babysitting opportunities that come up, for example during school vacations or in the evening.

A friend in San Franscisco says she expects to pay at least $20/hr. So I really think you have to find out what is the going rate in your area.

[JimL]

The math works out to be only a bit over a $1/hour. The pay should be at least minimum wage and the costs of meals/snacks should also be covered.

[MonkeyMonk]

Wouldn't having a 16-year-old work 75 hours a week for you get you into trouble with the state child work laws? Not to mention that seems like a ridiculously long amount of time to be using a babysitter per week.

I'd say charge $5/hour *minimum* for at least a total of $375 per week. Maybe if you want to be really generous offer a volume discount and drop the total to $300.

[Wilder]

I agree... this amount is WAY too low. I live in Virginia, and if you enroll your 9month old in daycare (which doesn't even include Saturdays), you will pay $225-$300 per week. $90/wk is definitely not adequate.

[Emily]

I would charge $500 a week. You are getting ripped off!

[Michael]

It sounds like you're going to be more like a nanny than a babysitter.

At least where I live, babysitting is really cheap. Teenagers charge just a couple dollars an hour, but it would only be for an evening or whatever.

Nannying though is more along the lines of a fulltime job, and should make at least minimum wage, and probably more.

[Dedicated]

$375 a week and the mother brings all food, diapers/supplies and snacks for the child.

Plus, there is a big issues with hours and labor laws. She may need to hire a second baby-sitter and split this up.

[Melody]

Shouldn't a 16 year-old be in school at those hours? And frankly, those are not that odd of hours to work. But that kid is with her for 13 hours each weekday and 10 on weekends. For the amount of time that guy is working, you would think he could afford to pay her more.

[Miranda]

Yikes! No way is that fair. I agree that the reader should get at least $5 an hour. And since this is a full-time job, probably even minimum wage. That is a lot of work, and $90 an hour just doesn't cut it. We pay our sitters $5, which is a little above the going rate in our neighborhood. And that is for a 6 year old that mostly takes care of himself and is pretty well-behaved for 2-4 hours. Caring for a nine-month-old is much more difficult. The reader is being totally taken advantage of and ripped off.

[Jeremy]

I pay $50 a day, monday - friday, 7 - 5. You definitely should charge more than this, especially giving up your saturdays. Probably something around $350-$400 per week.

[mbhunter]

$90/week for those hours is OFFENSIVE. And you know what? If you did that for a few weeks, they'd ask you to come down to $80. Or $70.

Please don't waste another nanosecond considering this offer, and don't deal with people who value your time near zero.

If you're reading FMF at age 16, you can make FAR more than $90/week if you wanted to.

[Lisa]

These comments seem to be coming from parents, so I thought I'd give my POV as a former babysitter.

First, I'm going to assume this is a summer situation, and so school would not be an issue for the teenager.

$90 is way, way too low. And at 75 hours a week, you're not a babysitter anymore. You're practically a secondary parent. Also, the age of the child needs to be considered. A school-aged child could be left to his or her own devices for short periods of time--watching a favorite cartoon or reading, for example. A nine month old is an infant, and as such needs to be watched constantly.

The teenager should also consider that they are giving up almost all of their free time. It may sound doable, but 75 hours a week is a LOT of time, especially when you're 16. The fact that you're giving up your personal time needs to be considered in the rate you charge.

All that given, I would charge $10/hr, at a rate of $750 for the week. At a minimum, I would take $600 for the week. However, I might offer to go down to $500 a week provided I get paid up front. For example, I get a check for the full $500 on Monday morning when the infant is dropped off, paying for childcare for this FOLLOWING Monday-Saturday--not the last week.

If this seems high, encourage the parent to look into the prices at local daycare centers. The cost there will likely be lower, but that is because that provider is looking after multiple children at the same time. Depending on the state law, I believe as many as 12 children per adult may be allowed.

As a side note, since this is (I assume) an under the table situation, the legal ramifications will not come into play unless someone reports the situation. However, keep in mind that an angry or concerned neighbor may very well call it in, in which case all parties may face legal trouble. You should also keep in mind that because this is under the table and you're skirting child labor laws, if something were to happen to the infant, the parent probably could and would be able to hold you legally accountable. To protect yourself, make sure your own parents are aware of this and approve, and that your parents and the parent of the infant in question sit down and have a candid conversation about what is expected on both ends.

All that being said, please consider this carefully: You are 16. Do you really want what is essentially full time care of an infant? If it's a matter of needing money, a part-time job at minimum wage and 25-35 hours a week would be a much better option. Enjoy your summer and your free time. Spend your time with friends or doing some hobby or activity you enjoy. Babysitting is a great way to make money. Consider offering instead to watch the infant on Saturdays only for $50 dollars, and suggest a regular childcare provider for during the week.

[Danielle]

When I was babysitting it was at 15-20 an hour but this is NYC.
I would suggest a rate of $5/hour for you.

[Jon]

In New York, typical nanny rates are:

Full-Time**

Average # of Hours Worked 46 hours

Average Tenure 16 months

Standard Pay (1 Child) $12-$13/hr
Standard Pay (2+ Children) $13.50-$15/hr

Part Time

Average # of Hours Worked 22 hours

Average Tenure 14 month

Standard Pay (1 Child) $13-$14/h
Standard Pay (2+ Children) $15/hr

It looks like most nanny's also get food and bonuses.

Source: the 2008 "Nanny Survey" http://www.parkslopeparents.com

[Darwin's Finance]

The parent(s) proposing this arrangement are dispicable and clearly attempting to take advantage of a naive teenager. 75 hours per week for a 16 year is a) violating child-labor laws and b) a full time nanny. I would not sit the child just based on how this started off to begin with.

A 16 year old should be enjoying their summer and perhaps working part time, even up to a standard 40 hour week. 75 is ludicrous. You have the rest of your life to work these kinds of hours; this is the time in your life to enjoy friends, families, hobbies, the sun and then rest up for another school year. Enjoy it.

As a parent, we pay at least $10 per hour for our two kids and we don't even allow a sitter to do bath unless it's family or 1 particular college age woman. Death by drowning in tubs is quite common. When it's a partial hour or whatever, we usually just round up, so it's over $10/hr. Nothing against this anonymous teenager, but in the age of texting, phone calls, tv and distractions, it sounds like they're turning over full parenting responsibilities to someone too young while seeking to take advantage of their lack of bargaining experience or comfort level in addressing the opportunistic exloitation occurring.

[Travis]

My opinion it should be nothing less than minimum wage but in reality should be more especially if you're working 75 hours a week. If you figure based on min-wage for 40 hrs then OT it would be:

40 x 7.25 (min wage as of 7/24/09) = $290
35 x 7.25 x 1.5 = $381

Weekly Total = $671
Weekly Total (w/o OT) = $544

Cost of daycare can vary anywhere from $125/wk - $500/wk however you're doing all the work. If nothing else get some quotes from local day cares and price accordingly. Bottom line $90/wk is way to low.

[Mark B.]

My children's day care charges $3.50 per hour per child. And this is a licensed facility with certified staff. But since the workers are responsible for more than one child their pay is near $10/hour.

Regardless of the pay, 75 hours per week is WAAYYYY too much time for a 16 year old to spend working or looking after someone elses child. Additionally 75 hours is WAAYYY too much time for a child to spend being cared for by someone other than a parent or relative.

I hate the fact that we have to send our kids to day care 24 hours per week. 75 is outragious!

[Claire]

Wow, 75 hours a week? That's far too much - unless it's only for one or two weeks, and $90 is also WAY too low. I teach teenagers, and from talking to them (in CA, anyway) it seems like starting wage is $7-$10/hour for a baby sitter these days.

I would really take the time to consider if you really want to give up all your time this summer. If you are 16 you probably are driving or have friends who drive. It's your first truly free summer where you are not constantly relying on your parents for rides, and you're starting to be able to do what you want, when you want. Do you really want to give all that up to work more hours per week than most grown-ups?

[JEM]

I nanny/babysit on the side. (I have a regular 9-5 job too) and I get paid 15.00 an hour in FL. I get paid more because I am an adult, however teenagers here get paid 8 bucks an hour at the least. $90.00 is insane. Thats a lot of work for very little money. Think more about it until you agree to anything.

[t]

I suggesting getting a job working 40hrs/week at some place established (retailer perhaps). If you do decide to work as a nanny, I think you should be making a minimum of $10-12/hr.

[tom]

Nothing in the original post indicates the $90/week was offered by the infant's parent. Sounds to me the teen is trying to come up with a price to quote the parent. So let's not be surprised to see the low number quoted; this teen is just starting out working in the real world. After 1 week of sitting the sitter themselves would figure out what all of us who have raised or are raising children already know; $90 is far too little for the job at hand.

My advice is this:
* Start at $300 per week, paid up front each week.
* Agree to a 2 week trial, at the end of which either party can back out.
* After 2 weeks reevaluate the social, physical and dollar costs that are being incurred.
* Adjust the price accordingly before agree to babysit long term.
* If you decide to do it long term then negotiate time-off and "vacations" and such. You will need them!

[Carrie]

at minimum you should be making your area's minimum wage. more if you have any sort of safety training like first aid and cpr.

[Jim]

What you charge depends on where you live and what the local market rate is.
I'd check what others locally are charging and use that as basis on what you should charge.
What do your friends charge for babysitting? What do people advertising in Craigslist charge?

$20 an hour might work fine in New York or San Francisco but here I see people charging $7-$10 and maybe she lives in a depressed area with few jobs and people willing to work for $5/hr.

[Mike]

The amount of hours per day brings up another issue. Most jobs that are paid hours deem any hours worked per day beyond 8 to me time and a half and any hours beyond 12 hours double time. Also, any hours beyond 40 hours a week are time and a half.

Based on this I came to a total of $1050 per week. This is 40 hrs at $10. 4 hours per day, M-F at $15. 2 hours per day, M-F at $20
(the 1 hours break between 1 and two does not count as time off, you are still there) and 10 hours on Sat at $15.

[Melissa]

I paid my babysitter $100/week this past year. Six years ago I paid $60/week. However these were all normal working hours... at this last babysitter it was 8:30-5:30 and she did have other kids she watched. I brought milk, diapers and wipes. I WOULD NOT pay over $150/week for daycare, which is what the daycares in the area charge.

So that in and of itself is not unusual. Working constantly and getting paid $100 a week is a different deal.

[steve]

Why would someone hire a 16 year old to raise their child?75 hours a week is an insane amount of time to be leaving your child with a stranger.I wouldn't do it for any less than $500/ week it it was me.

[James]

75 hours a week is not babysitting-- that's child care. I live in the midwest and have many friends who pay between $50-$75 per day for extensive child care (8:30-4:00) similar to what has been outlined above. This girl either needs to charge a daily rate she feels comfortable charging based on her years of experience/age (I would say $7-$8/hr) or a weekly rate... I would suggest $500.

[Jeremy]

Should definitely be upwards of $350 a week.

[Param]

i think she missed a 0 - $900/wk seems the right figure. she's almost a nanny/governess not a babysitter!!!

[Strick]

Mike - that was funny (>$4k/month for 16-year old daycare). I think she was actually asking for a rate she could actually sell her services for to this person, not what her union should be demanding.

Though the difficulty of coming up with a fair rate to the babysitter that is reasonable for the parent is just highlighting how extreme this work schedule is. I can't decide if this is a horrible and/or dangerous situation or if this is the perfect birth control program for every 16 year old...

[Mama Bird]

Wow, no offense to the 16 year old, but I can't even imagine how I, at 16, would have had the skills to deal with an infant for that long of a period. It's hard for an adult parent (I have 2 young boys), much less a teenager. Frankly, it's a little bit of a scary situation to me. Babies are demanding and hard work and take a toll on even the most patient of people. 75 hours a week is insane. $90 for that is just an abomination. I'm wondering what the 16 yr old's parents have to say about this. Wow, just seems like a crazy situation all around.

[Meg]

Working 6am until 8pm with only a one hour break will make anybody go crazy - that's nearly TWO full workdays in one. I suggest that you find a friend or have the parent of the child find another babysitter and split up the days during the week - one person does mornings, the other does afternoons.

Compare hourly rates at local daycares and quote exactly those to the parent - they're not getting a professional, but they're also getting to command their own hours and have private daycare for their kid. So you should charge at least what local daycares do per hour. Also if the parent balks at that figure, you can tell him/her where it came from.

At the very least you should demand the new federal minimum wage of 7.25%, which you could get working anywhere else this summer (and with more reasonable hours too).

[LC]

Sounds like the mom is working 2 or 3 jobs to make ends meet, which is why she wants to skimp on the pay. While being sympathetic to her situation, you should charge an amount that will not make you resent your job, since caring for an infant full time is hard work. If you are happy with $90 and feel like that is a generous amount (i.e. would be very happy doing the job for that much), then that's an appropriate arrangement.

However, the other responses are right on that it is WAY below the going rate. Day cares in my area are $200 per week for a max of 55 hrs ($3.63 per hour). $200 per week would be on the low end of what I consider fair, and even though you are not licensed, you are providing flexible private care. You may want to mention that to her and suggest that you split the difference (maybe $150 per week?)

[Matt]

Maybe somebody should first consider why this mother is working so many hours and what she can afford to pay. It is often galling how people on this blog think so much about money that they lose sight of the real deal.

[mbhunter]

Matt: We're not considering that. We don't know the first thing about the lady's situation, except that she "works unusual hours" and wants the teenager to babysit a lot. For all we know she could be an executive making $200,000+ per year and is just being cheap beyond belief. Or, she might not even be working all that time. Who knows?

We'll consider the mother's situation if she e-mails FMF and he decides to post the question. But for now, I think there's an overwhelming voice that's saying the teenager should either ask for lots more money, or say no.

[LC]

Somewhat unrelated but it reminds me of the controversy about wages in other countries. Americans are often appalled at the wages that some workers get in other countries, such as $1 per day. What they don't know is that many of these people enjoy the work and that small amount of money is a fortune to them. Sounds like the teen here is in a similar situation. $90 a week may sound like a lot to her, and she probably enjoys watching the baby. She was just looking for input from others. Hopefully she realizes that she can probably charge a little more if she wants and that taking care of a baby for that long is a lot harder than she thinks, but she should charge a rate that she feels is generous, since even that will be less than most daycares.

[cmadler]

We've had a similar (though not nearly as extreme) discussion about baby sitting in the past week.

For our nine-month-old, we pay $180/week (in advance) for 7:30-5:30 day care from a licensed provider. We provide food until 18 months, we provide diapers, wipes, etc. Our day care provider also gets 5 sick days, pre-scheduled vacation days, etc. for which we still pay her. Altogether for the whole year, the pay comes to about $3.85/hr, but as others have pointed out, she has other children there also (anywhere from 2 to 5 others).

We also have a neighbor's daughter (13 y/o) who sits for us one evening a week for 3 hrs 45 min (of which our daughter is asleep 1/2 the time). We were paying $10 a night (~$2.85/hr) and just gave her a raise to $12/night (~$3.25).

[tina]

well I am a babysitter in South Hill Va.It is a small town where most people work for between minimum wage and 10 dollars an hour.so based on what the average income earned by all the parents I babysit for is,I charge 80 dollars a week.I know that may sound low,but believe it or not there are women around here who do it for 65 a week,thats for up to 40 hours.I do charge extra for anything after 6 pm.I am keeping 3 children right now and earning about 240 a week all together.it all depends on where you live and how much money the people you work for are making.