$5/Hr to babysitt...isn't That Low?

$5 hr that's ridiculous!!! Dog walkers charge more then that!! I pay $12
And I think that's a deal compared to what my friends pay.

The going rate in my neighborhood is:
New, freshly baby sitting/cpr trained- $8 to 9 p/hr (depends on age)
Experienced- $10 p/hr
Experienced on a holiday- $11 to 15 p/hr

This person is asking you to take care of the most important person in her life for less than minimum wage. Run far far the other way.

And to those saying taxes don't need to be taken out. If you know you are going to pay someone 1200 in a calendar year- you are indeed required to pay fica, so no, its not an excuse to pay poorly.

$5/hr for maybe a 14 yo for like an hr or 2. Not and adult she can take a hike, I was making over $15 hr she is crazy. I would not waste my time or gas on that job.

She may pay sitters $5/hr, but that may also be why she's looking for a sitter. Furthermore, just because that's what she's offering, doesn't mean you have to accept. She's probably low-balling just to see if she can get someone to bite. (Think...the economy is bad mentality. You should be happy you have a job rhetoric.)

Do the math if you're still wondering. How much of your pay will be eaten up in gas money alone? Would it still be worth it to you then?

Good luck!

Well here in MI babysitting is 2.5 per kid per hour. Those are daycare center rates. Unless the child is under 1 and then it is 6 per kid per hour. When I read the comment about minimum wage to watch one kid I just had to shake my head. If you were working in a center you would be paid minimum wage, not get paid for two/three weeks, have taxes taken out and be expected to watch at least 6 kids.

So do I think being paid cash the night you worked, not having to claim it as income, and only having to watch one kid who will be asleep for part of the time too much? Nope.

But each to their own. If you think it's ridiculous don't take the job.

Too low. I would say sure I can do $5 an hour... but there will be a $20 travel fee.

That's ridiculously low! We consider $10 an hour a bargain! I would at least require minimum wage if I were babysitting, but $5 an hour is far too little. She needs to think about the quality of care she wants her kids to have!

$5 an hour is totally normal depending on your area. We pay that for 2 kids! But we do provide transportation for our sitter.

Wow! 5 an hour is unheard of in in Kansas! I would like point her to the rate calculator below and ask her if she really feels her child's safety is worth so little.

http://www.sittercity.com/babysitters/babysitters-rate-ca...

I think that's low, especially for a non-family member who is driving up to half an hour each way and staying til midnight. We pay our niece (in her 20s) $10 an hour.

haha. Even when I have had a 14 year old kid babysit literally with my 2 kids in bed asleep, just so hubby and I could go out to dinner and a movie from 8 pm to midnight, we paid $7 an hour. The kid was thrilled - hubby has Xbox 360, tons of games, plus cable tv, good snacks. And this was my next door neighbor's kid. No commute, no gas.

She sounds nuts.

I pay five dollars and hour per kid so since I have two I pay ten an hour. With this in mind if I had one I think I would have to pay a premium to attract a baby sitter. After all why would she want to babysit one kid when there are plenty of people with two or more.

Just tell here you cannot work for five an hour. If she is looking for a new sitter chances are it is because she can't find any for that rate.

Oh minimum wage is irrelevant, you are working for cash that I highly doubt you are going to report on your taxes. If you aren't taxed on the income you are not paying for services like minimum wage enforcement.

in my area in-home childcare (or baby sitting) rates run from $8 for a high schooler... and up to $16 for more experienced care- per child.

daycare center for children under 6 months are $16/hour for each child... and kids over 1 are $12/child.Here childcare is in high demand and so rates are high. In fact my mom had a freind ask me to watch her child a few months ago and offered to pay me $5.00/hour. I had to tell her I would take no less than $8, and told her that it would not offend me if she found someone who would take $5/hour and used them instead- she could not find anyone under $12/hour.

BUT from another perspective... if you would not be making any money during that time... it might be worth it at such a low rate... Something is better than nothing, right? You'll have to decide if the effort is worth the pay off..

Good Luck!
-M.

If you are going to do something at night, perhaps waitressing at an elegant restaurant would be helpful. I used to work at daycares and then waitress at night. You can make some pretty nice money.

We pay a nephew who is 13 and just listens to baby monitors while they sleep 6 :) he requested 5 but he is just trying to break into sitting. The going rate for 1-2 kids here is 8-10 and in the city as high as 15 or 16. The fed min wage is like 7.25 and Illinois has its own at 8.25. Yes, 5 is really low.

I would not do it for $5/hour and I too, am a licensed childcare provider. My daughter, who is 20 gets paid $10/hour. They do not include gas money but during the summer, give her additional money for gas when she takes the kids out for field trips.

Compromise, schrompromise....tell her no.

Tell her that she can't find a sitter in Los Angeles County for under $10/hour.

That seems to be the going rate in my neck of the woods but my 16 year old gets at least 8 and most of the time 10 dollars. She won't work for someone that thinks their child is only worth $5 hour...That's the price of a gallon of milk, arrrgh!

I've never paid less than $10/hr for someone to come to my house...good luck.

That is low, $6 an hour would be the lowest I go and that would be if it was a teenager who is kind of new at it and either we drive or we give $5 in addition to the total.

You are very qualified so you should be paid more, at least $7 an hour plus a few extra bucks for gas.

Tell her NO. 5 bucks an hour is horrible! You are worth sooo much more!

I think that's low. I'm in NY and my 16 year old daughter typically gets about $8 per hour. Maybe this woman would pay that to a young teenager, but you are an adult woman and experienced Nanny. Set your own ratwe and if she's not willing to pay what would make the job worth your while, politely decline and she can find someone else.
I paid $5 an hour for teen sitters 10-15 years ago when my kids were little

Wow! We have 2 kids, ages 6 and 9, both well-behaved and with an 8:30 bedtime. We pay $15/hr for teenaged babysitters (responsible ones, but still!). Granted, things are crazy expensive in California, but $5/hr is unheard of anymore. From my friends with 1 child, they still pay $10/hr.

Don't do it. I would even pay a teen more than that if she was worthy.

$10/hr - that's what babysitters charge. You don't need her business.

Updated

$10/hr - that's what babysitters charge. You don't need her business.

Man oh Man, I feel sorry for that kid. That mom is asking for trouble trying to find someone to work for such a low wage. The only people nowadays that make such a low amount are mother's helpers...

I hope you insisted on more $$/hr.

Way to cheap. You are experienced and an adult. $10.00 an hour would be more appropriate.

NO WAY.

A lot of it does depend on your area. My daughter is 16 and gets $12-$15 an hour cash.

Someone is trying to use you as a doormat.

You should be getting AT LEAST whatever the minimum wage is. For that late at night and considering the travel time and gas, I wouldn't accept less than $10/hour.

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$10/hr and if possible spend the night so you don't have to drive home at such a late hour.

Blessings....

Woah! I live in a CHEAP town, and I haven't paid less than $8 an hour for one child in years (and then I rounded up to $10) I now pay $12/hour for 3 kids and usually round it up to $15 at the end of the night just because I feel bad. And that's for a teen who sort of doesn't do anything hard because her mom's next door to help and the kids are asleep most of the time!
She is on CRACK! I wouldn't sit for her.
To put it in perspective, I charged $1/hr. In 1982!!!!!! She thinks the rate has only gone up $4 in 30 years???!!!

I agree that it is low for an adult caring for a child/children. But there are other things that bother me as a professional child care provider myself.

Please do not point out the differences and comparing with official minimum wages because, as another poster pointed out, its irrelevant if you are not paying ALL of the proper taxes on this income (and I highly doubt you are). A $10 an hour taxed job is going to be much reduced by the taxes taken out.

Also, why would the distance you have to drive and gas money come into play? Anyone who drives to a job that pays money is not going to have any sort of expense account to cover this...well not most people. Why should your cash job babysitting get it?

I do not honestly mean to be harsh, but this comes across as a sort of entitlement to me. You want a great paying CASH job with no taxes taken out, plus you want them to pay your gas money?

If it seems too low, skip it and find something that suits you better.

Best wishes.

That is way too low-- that may be all that she can afford or she may just be very cheap. If you have nanny positions, you are a qualified childcare professional and you should not accept this job. You will have an hour travel time (and gas expense) to and from this house and you will be driving home alone after midnight. It is not worth it. My daughter used to babysit and she got paid 9-12 an hour depending on the number of the kids and got paid more when she was there after midnight.

I pay $5 an hour for my younger, less experienced, teen sitters who don't have to do meals or bedtime. I pay $10/hr to the older teens/adults who make meals and do bedtime.

In my area, babysitters charge at least $10/hour.
The most experienced, popular babysitters (adults who have worked in daycare centers before and earned great reputations from that) charge $15....and they get plenty of business.
Good luck!

If I am hiring a sitter for a few hours, I try to do closer to 10, but for a nanny / all day, we pay by the day rather than by the hour. $40 / day is the going rate around us (upper middle class area). While $10/hr is reasonable for a night out, $80 / day would break us!

...so I guess it depends on the capacity of the job, how much expense it would be for you to take it compared to how much you'd actually make.

Considering it's only one child and the child would be sleeping, I don't think it's that bad. However, I do beleive it's on the low side and I would ask for more.

depends on where you live...where i am at specifically it is 2.5 and hour and that includes feeding the child

For what you would be doing, yes that seems low. If were just an occasional sitter for a weekend then I think $5 is good.

Wow, I guess I'm out of the loop. We give our young girl babysitter $5/hour when it's only for a few hours. And she lives right next door so there is no travel time. Our regular daycare we pay more than that. But we don't have a lot of extra money to spare plus we don't go out that often.