<p>Hi, I was wondering what teens are getting for babysitting today? I thought it was about 6-8.00 in our neighborhood, but my 14 year old daughter was told 10.00 was “average” and was surprised when a neighbor paid her that (they hadn’t discussed it prior) A college student was requesting 12.00-15.00 on a flyer at our supermarket, which made me seriously think of asking for 20.00 and doing some myself on the side. : )
It has been so long since I needed a sitter, I guess I am “out of the loop” but it seemed to go up a lot the last few years, at least in CT.</p>
<p>Wow! I guess it depends on the area you live in. My older 2 got paid $5.00 per hour. My 13-year-old got offered $8.00 per hour by a neighbor yesterday. I guess I would be willing to pay $8.00 ph for an evening out. But I cannot imagine $20.00. Lucky you if you can get it.</p>
<p>I know of some couples who go away for the weekend and pay $500 to have someone live in Fri-Sun., which sounds like a lot, but then averages to $10.</p>
<p>I’m a 17 year old girl and I usually get paid around $10/hr. Sometimes I get $9 at the least, and sometimes more than $10.</p>
<p>Yes, $10/hour is about what D’s get from neighbor, when they sit for 2 or 3 kids. A far cry from my first babysitting gig at 75-cents an hour!!</p>
<p>Hey astrophysicsmom,
That sparked me to remember getting 50 cents an hour, and 75 cents “after midnight.”</p>
<p>I knew I’d get a reality check upon opening this thread. I was in momof3sons’ generation, but started out at 35 cents/hour And, hey, momof3 - we got that 75 cents for New Year’s Eve too! Even before midnight - such riches :D. And the great jobs left us chips and dip and a coke.</p>
<p>When DS was small, I think we paid about $4/hour.</p>
<p>Last time my daughter babysat (about two years ago) it was @$10 an hour but often depended on how much money the parents had since they never wanted to ask for change. i.e., If they owed $35, just as often they would give $40.</p>
<p>My 16 yo d gets $10-12 a hour. </p>
<p>My 20 babysits in the summer and drives, she gets $15 an hour.</p>
<p>Around here the going rate seems to be around $8 per hour. If I need a sitter, though, it’s usually only for a 1-3 hour stint. My feeling is that I want to make it worth the teenager’s while so they’ll want to come back if I need them again. Hence, even if they only have to work for an hour or two I never pay less than $20. Kids are so privileged these days that if they earn less than $20 it won’t feel worth it to them to bother when they could be out with friends instead.</p>
<p>When I was in the babysitting market – and I was, despite my gender, because I had younger siblings and relatives, and was a camp counselor, so I was actually pretty good at it – I expected to make enough from a job to be able to buy an LP at full retail price, and have something left over. Back then, it meant I expected to get about $5 from a normal 4-hour evening job. When we hired babysitters, and then when my daughter hired herself out, the same rule of thumb seemed to apply, and it was $20-25 for an evening.</p>
<p>My girls are now in college, but they babysat occasionally while in high school, so this is a few years ago. At first, some families paid $8/hour but over time, and maybe it was just certain families, they were getting $10/hour. Sometimes, it might come out to a bit more than $10/hour because they might just hand them an even amount at the end of the night type of thing. This is in rural Vermont. So, Gaby, I think $10/hour is reasonable these days. </p>
<p>Some of this might depend where you live. My teenager who is in college did one babysitting job in Manhattan last year and earned over $100 for the evening and she was in seventh heaven. The family appeared well to do, given my D’s awe about their apartment.</p>
<p>My 16-year-old D has a regular baby-sitting job and receives about $10 per hour (and she drives to the family’s home about 20 minutes away.) I thought that was WAY too much money until I saw the replies here!</p>
<p>My twin girls were asked by a young grad school couple to sit for their young child. Only one of them wanted too but after her sister came home with 20.00 for 2 hours, she reconsidered. Even when she’s a “mothers helper” and they are home, the pay is the same!
It does vary though, some parents pay less, some more. As an adult, I would babysit for children on occasion for extra money. Some families (all middleclass-up) were very generous, 15.00 an hour or more on average, some were aghast I’d ask for 10.00!
And to think like many of you, I worked for 1.00 an hour in highschool, sometimes for more than 1 family at a time. I did save though…bought my first used car in 2 years.</p>
<p>I guess things are changing. I was talking about high tuition costs and needing a little extra money for “extras” without it being held against me. Someone I work with told me today she gets 20.00 an hour for occasional night sitting when parents have a wedding or other big event and want an adult they can trust. (that is lacking a lot today) The Dad is a doctor so I suppose it doesn’t hurt as much as it would someone like myself.
She told me about a Bar Mitzvah coming up where they will pay 100.00 for 4 hours watching 2 toddlers. Hey, that’s a tank of gas. : )</p>
<p>Sheesh, I used to get $1/hour to watch a preschooler and her twin sisters, so three kids under 5, all day when the mom worked in the summers-I am sure I was saving her big $ versus her school year day care fees! But hey, I got all the Kraft Mac & Cheese with cut up hot dogs that I wanted to eat and my mom would never have served that!</p>
<p>When my kids were little it was $1/hour/kid, so 3 kids = $3/hour! Glad I am not paying for it now. My retired sister babysits a few days a month for a friend and to bring in extra $, I think she gets $75/day for two pre-schoolers for a 10 hour day! We must live in the wrong neighborhood!</p>
<p>My D gets about $6/hour. She vowed never to have kids after spending several of sessions with two very energtic kids.</p>
<p>If I may change the subject slightly. What about tutoring? Both my D and S are in the tutor club of the HS. They started out as 1st come 1st serve. D has earned such a great reputation, parents called to make arrangement ahead of time. Soon after there were a bidding war, the highest bidder offered $35/h. But D took some kid who needs the help most and accepted $20/h. My S on the other hand, had also parents called to set up appointment offering up to $20/h but he declined all payments. </p>
<p>D has been so busy she has stopped the tutoring but S still doing it for free.</p>
<p>My son gets between $8 to $10/hour to babysit. He doesn’t set a rate though, that’s just what our neighbors around here generally pay him.</p>
<p>My son hated babysitting, but some families like a male sitter with boys because they were lets say, “a little hard to handle”. He didn’t swear off children, but commented HIS would never be like that. : )
He also tutored for free, pay made him feel funny. One mom, who’s daughter was not passing third grade wanted him to continue during the summer when school closed (he did it there previously) He said to me that he didn’t want the responsibility of her passing/failing on him. He took everything very seriously so it didn’t surprise me.
I wish I could find something that I could do in my “spare” time that was under the table for a little more money.</p>
<p>Your numbers sound right for our area, too. When our older teenagers were kids we paid about 7 or 8 dollars an hour and would usually round up. D hasn’t babysat in some time, but was just offered a job for about $50 for four hours. There are lots of colleges around here and the college kids can easily get 12 -15. An adult willing to sit would probably do even better.</p>
<p>DS’ best friend tutors math in his college city for middle school/early hs kids (one on one). I believe he gets $20/hour.</p>