How Much Should You Pay A Babysitter?
How Much Should You Pay A Babysitter | Outfit Details
Night dress: Hanna Andersson // Pajamas: Hanna Andersson // Blanket: Pottery Barn Kids // Bunny: JellyCat
How Much Should You Pay A Babysitter | My Babysitting Experience
I grew up in an affluent area. Living in the DC suburbs meant that the housing crash and the unemployment crisis didn't really effect the area like the rest of the country. Of course it did to some extent but no where near what other communities faced. The point is that it meant there were plenty of opportunities for me to babysit. I was in enough demand that I could pick who I babysat for and by the time I was in high school, I had a group of regular families that I was on call for on the weekends and nannied for over the summers. This also meant I was paid well. I choose to work for families I loved but who also saw my value and paid me how much I was worth. That usually meant $10-$20 per hour depending on the length of time and the number of kids. It didn't matter if I was sitting around watching tv and doing homework while the kids were in bed or if I was playing with the kids the entire time.
How Much Should You Pay A Babysitter | Other Experiences
I have cousins who live in another part of the country where babysitters were barely paid. Maybe $2-$5 per hour. And the number of kids didn't matter. And I have seen that still to this day. I actually left a Facebook Mommy group because I saw a stream of comments about how much it was worth to pay a babysitter. Many women said it was only worth a few dollars an hour if the kids were sleeping and then only a few more dollars if the kids were awake. I was apalled. I quickly left the group and started thinking about this post.
How Much Should You Pay A Babysitter | Why Paying Well Is Important
If you were watching someone else's kids, how much would you want to be paid? Less than minimum wage? Would you be as willing to spend the time to make sure the kids are having fun? Or make sure the house is picked up? The answer is probably no. But if you were paid well, you would make the expereince a great one for the kids and the parents. So why wouldn't you pay someone to watch your own kids the same way? They will be responsible for your kids. They will be makign sure that the kids will stay in bed and be safe while you are gone. This person will be entertaining your kids and teaching them things in your absence. So why not make it worth their while?
When you have found a good babysitter, you want them to keep coming back. Paying them well is one of the best ways to keep them coming back. You need to make it worth their while. If this person is a teenager, you are competing with their social schedule, other job options and school. So you need to make sure they will want to keep coming back. Honestly, I didn't get a traditional job in high school because I did so well babysitting. I was probably making more than my friends working at the mall and the hours were way better. And I was willing to give up a Friday night out with friends because I knew it was worth my time.
How Much Should You Pay A Babysitter | Affording a Babysitter
We are blessed to live near a lot of family. We basically always have someone who can babysit Jackie and we don't have to worry about paying them. Not everyone has that. And not everyone can afford to pay a babysitter minimum wage. But there are other ways to make it work. You can trade with other moms. You cut their hair, they watch your kids. You can join a co-op where moms rotate watching a group of kids every week. You can join up with a friend and split the cost of a babysitter. There are ways to do this if you can't afford to pay an apporpriate amount.
My aunt watches Jackie once a week. I don't pay her. But I have been watching her 5 year old twice a week since she was 3 months old. So it is our way of trading babysitting. I probably couldn't afford to pay someone to watch Jackie all day once a week but I do this and it works.
How Much Should You Pay A Babysitter | How I Pay Babysitters
We did have a reason to find a babysitter a few weeks ago. Jackie napped the entire time and we were gone for just over an hour. But I paid her $15. She tried hard to not take the money. She insisted that she didn't do anything and that there was no reason for me to pay her. But I explained to her that her time was worth something. She kep Jackie safe while I was gone and that was worth something to me too.
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