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Babysitting Rates - what do you get paid?
Just wondering what the general rates were around the country.
I'm going to advertise for babysitting a bit more now as I've got my license, and a car, along with a first aid qualification. At the moment I get around £5.50 ish an hour (before midnight) near to where I live, to look after 2/3 children, but I'm not sure whether I'm getting underpaid, because the area I babysit in, whilst not being London, is pretty wealthy. Plus, I have quite a bit of experience of babysitting, and great ref's etc. Hmm...
Also, there's the question of how you set your rates. Do you do it with individual parents, or is there a set, 'like it or lump it' rate? Oh, and do you have different rates for weeknights to weekends? And what about cancellations?
Basically, I'm wondering what you - or other people you know of - get paid to babysit, what they do when they're there (ie. are the kids in bed, is it just one child or quite a few etc), as well as whether they have much experience and first aid, whether they can drive, etc etc.
Thanks a lot in advance of some replies
I'm going to advertise for babysitting a bit more now as I've got my license, and a car, along with a first aid qualification. At the moment I get around £5.50 ish an hour (before midnight) near to where I live, to look after 2/3 children, but I'm not sure whether I'm getting underpaid, because the area I babysit in, whilst not being London, is pretty wealthy. Plus, I have quite a bit of experience of babysitting, and great ref's etc. Hmm...
Also, there's the question of how you set your rates. Do you do it with individual parents, or is there a set, 'like it or lump it' rate? Oh, and do you have different rates for weeknights to weekends? And what about cancellations?
Basically, I'm wondering what you - or other people you know of - get paid to babysit, what they do when they're there (ie. are the kids in bed, is it just one child or quite a few etc), as well as whether they have much experience and first aid, whether they can drive, etc etc.
Thanks a lot in advance of some replies
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I occasionally babysit for my nextdoor neighbours, and I get paid around £8-9 an hour which is pretty good. I don't have set rates I just take whatever they give me, lol.
Oh and I look after 2 kids who are 5 and 7 I think.
Oh and I look after 2 kids who are 5 and 7 I think.
So do you do much whilst you're there? Do you have to put the kids to bed, read stories etc, or are they usually in bed? And do either of you have first aid etc? £8-9 an hour is really good, but I suppose if it's quite irregular and they're neighbours then they may be inclined to give you more. :P Flubi - I think you're right I can probably afford to charge more, I'm just not sure how much more. I know someone who used to babysit in my area a couple of years ago got paid £7, but I think she set different rates for each family. Seems like the rates do vary a bit...
I used to babysit from when I was 14 to when I was 18. I started off charging £4.50 or £5 an hour and that went up after a while to £6 an hour. I rarely babysat after midnight so I don't think I had a special rate for that. I generally left it up to the parents if they wanted to give me more. But then again I never had a driving licence although I'd had some first aid training. The area I live in sounds much like yours, OP - not London but still a relatively affluent area. I wouldn't charge more than £7 per hour to begin with, especially if you have not babysat before. I only felt able to charge more after a time because I had become more experienced with the kids.
As for what I used to do - occasionally I would have to cook dinner for the kids but that was really rare. Mostly it just involved putting them to bed, making sure they brushed their teeth etc, reading them stories. Older kids (10+) tend to put themselves to bed quite nicely though. The really tricky part is dealing with bad behaviour - getting them to go to sleep, getting them to go to bed generally, how to cope if they're missing their mum and dad or usually have a different babysitter. Sometimes kids are just generally naughty as well/will mess about so you need to have tactics up your sleeve to deal with it (distraction techniques, making going to bed a pleasant experience etc).
As for what I used to do - occasionally I would have to cook dinner for the kids but that was really rare. Mostly it just involved putting them to bed, making sure they brushed their teeth etc, reading them stories. Older kids (10+) tend to put themselves to bed quite nicely though. The really tricky part is dealing with bad behaviour - getting them to go to sleep, getting them to go to bed generally, how to cope if they're missing their mum and dad or usually have a different babysitter. Sometimes kids are just generally naughty as well/will mess about so you need to have tactics up your sleeve to deal with it (distraction techniques, making going to bed a pleasant experience etc).
Isabella -
is this what you generally get paid, or was it a one-off? I'm trying to get an idea of what people regularly get paid from the same families. Still, £60 is impressive for sitting and not doing a lot!
Angelil -
Was that just a couple of years ago? As Flubi said, it does seem I could charge more. Yeh, it's mostly professionals I babysit for, people who can certainly afford to go out and dine a lot. Was where you babysat quite near to where you live then? Cos obviously if I'm going further, then there's going to be the petrol costs etc, rather than just walking round the corner.
Thanks a lot for all the replies so far. It's pretty helpful!
is this what you generally get paid, or was it a one-off? I'm trying to get an idea of what people regularly get paid from the same families. Still, £60 is impressive for sitting and not doing a lot!
Angelil -
Was that just a couple of years ago? As Flubi said, it does seem I could charge more. Yeh, it's mostly professionals I babysit for, people who can certainly afford to go out and dine a lot. Was where you babysat quite near to where you live then? Cos obviously if I'm going further, then there's going to be the petrol costs etc, rather than just walking round the corner.
Thanks a lot for all the replies so far. It's pretty helpful!
I dont do it anymore and only did it a handful of times, but when I did I did it for the same person everytime, so kind of had a standard thing of £20. Sometimes she was gone for 2 hours, and at most she was gone for 4, so at the minimum it was £5 p/h
Although having said that everytime I got there the kid(s) were in bed and I never had to actually do anything but be there.
Although having said that everytime I got there the kid(s) were in bed and I never had to actually do anything but be there.
MEK
Angelil -
Was that just a couple of years ago? As Flubi said, it does seem I could charge more. Yeh, it's mostly professionals I babysit for, people who can certainly afford to go out and dine a lot. Was where you babysat quite near to where you live then? Cos obviously if I'm going further, then there's going to be the petrol costs etc, rather than just walking round the corner.
Thanks a lot for all the replies so far. It's pretty helpful!
Angelil -
Was that just a couple of years ago? As Flubi said, it does seem I could charge more. Yeh, it's mostly professionals I babysit for, people who can certainly afford to go out and dine a lot. Was where you babysat quite near to where you live then? Cos obviously if I'm going further, then there's going to be the petrol costs etc, rather than just walking round the corner.
Thanks a lot for all the replies so far. It's pretty helpful!
Yes - I babysat very regularly from 2000 until about 2005. Then all the kids I looked after got too old! I live very near a primary school so most of the kids lived within walking distance. If they didn't, my parents would drop me off and the parents of the kids would bring me back, but it was rare that I babysat that far away. I would say £7 an hour to start would be about right - as you say, you are older than I was when I started and you have petrol costs etc to consider - but I wouldn't raise it for now if you don't have much experience beyond first aid.
I've never babysat in the UK, but in the US I get between $10-13/hour. Minimum wage is $7.50, for reference.
Don't let anyone bully you into accepting less than minimum wage because it's "just babysitting".
Don't let anyone bully you into accepting less than minimum wage because it's "just babysitting".
Flubi -
sounds like what I do. Pretty much look after the kids for about half the time I'm there, then spend the rest reading and checking on them every so often. Maybe you could charge more if you look after them that well!
Angelil -
I have previous experience of babysitting; is that what you mean by experience beyond first aid? But I've not done any kind of childcare course or anything - I'm doing A levels. I've been babysitting for over 3 years, and have babysat for about three or four different families. That sounds quite ideal, being near a primary school; must be annoying with all the kids being too old now!
sounds like what I do. Pretty much look after the kids for about half the time I'm there, then spend the rest reading and checking on them every so often. Maybe you could charge more if you look after them that well!
Angelil -
I have previous experience of babysitting; is that what you mean by experience beyond first aid? But I've not done any kind of childcare course or anything - I'm doing A levels. I've been babysitting for over 3 years, and have babysat for about three or four different families. That sounds quite ideal, being near a primary school; must be annoying with all the kids being too old now!
^^ Yes, that was what I meant. It was just that from your question about what people usually do while there it sounded like you hadn't done any before. I'd say you can probably start on £7 or £8 an hour, but I wouldn't go over that as otherwise people will start finding other babysitters in the area who charge less and you'll end up with no work at all
I used to babysit my baby cousins fairly regularly, and they gave me £20 from about 8pm until 10am the next day (I slept over). However all I did was put the kids to bed after they'd finished watching maybe half an hour of cartoons, warm up a bottle or give the older one a snack, make sure they'd brushed their teeth, read them a story etc... They were both exceptionally well behaved and never any trouble. Well worth doing - When I put it into perspective I was getting £20 for an hour's proper babysitting, and watching telly and drinking their tea for the rest 
omg £7 - £8 thats loads for babysitting!!...i mean the minimum wage is £4-£4.50 an hour i think!....people who have got proper jobs only earn £7- £8 an hour....wen i babysat pay woz between £3.50 to £5.00 an hour usually coz it's an easy job!...they decided how much they wanted to pay me but i didn't expect anything above the minimum wage for it...x
dairynuts
omg £7 - £8 thats loads for babysitting!!...i mean the minimum wage is £4-£4.50 an hour i think!....people who have got proper jobs only earn £7- £8 an hour....wen i babysat pay woz between £3.50 to £5.00 an hour usually coz it's an easy job!...they decided how much they wanted to pay me but i didn't expect anything above the minimum wage for it...x
Errr, they do? What are you considering a "proper job" to be?
The minimum wage is minimum wage for a reason. Why would you not expect to get it?
dairynuts
omg £7 - £8 thats loads for babysitting!!...i mean the minimum wage is £4-£4.50 an hour i think!....people who have got proper jobs only earn £7- £8 an hour....wen i babysat pay woz between £3.50 to £5.00 an hour usually coz it's an easy job!...they decided how much they wanted to pay me but i didn't expect anything above the minimum wage for it...x
I agree that £7 - £8 an hour is a lot to ask for! When I started babysitting I used to charge £3 an hour (this was 7 years ago now though!) Usually though, I'd get a bit more e.g. if I babysat for 4 hours, they would just give me £15 rather than £12, and usually a bit more if it was after midnight. Some families did pay me more like £5 - £7 an hour, but I didn't really 'charge' that officially, they'd just give me a bit more.
As dairynuts said, you'd only be getting £4.75 or something for working in a shop at minimum wage, and babysitting is the easiest job ever! You play for a bit and put the kids to bed for maybe an hour or two. Then you watch their TV and eat their food - I don't think you can justify charging a lot for that.
Casserole
Are males allowed to babysit, or is there some paedo alert mindset that rules them out?
"It's not sexual discrimination, they just might be a pervert/paedo/male"
"It's not sexual discrimination, they just might be a pervert/paedo/male"
Good question. Any males out there that babysit? Ever faced any discrimination?
If you are clever, then you could consider advertising that you could help them with their homework/tutor them while you are there if needed.
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