What's Realistic - How Much Should After School Care Cost?

A.-

I work for AuPairCare, an au pair agency, and the cost to host an au pair is $325 for 45 hours of care a week. That works out to about $7/hour, plus you have the benefits of flexibility, convenience and your children learning a second language. If this is something you're interested in, I'd love to talk to you about hosting an au pair. If not, I wish you good luck in your search and would certainly agree with the other ladies that there are more affordable options out there for you.

Good luck!

E.
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Hey A.,

I own a childcare center and have a few college students that work for me in aftercare. When they babysit outside of work they charge $15.00 per hour for two children for just sitting. If they are fixed on $20.00 then I would increase their duties. I have a mom at my daycare who has an older child in public school as well. So she has a nanny pick up her older one from her school and the younger child at my school. She pays $20.00 per hour however the nanny takes them to activities, helps with homework, gives them dinner, and bathes them. I am not sure if this helps but it may give you something to go by. I hope this helps. Good luck!!

I have my own daycare and I would never ever charge $20 an hour. If you paid your new babysitter $20 an hour you would be shelling out $70 a day. $350 a week??? You stated you paid your old babysitter $14 an hour. That is almost $50 a day. Is that correct? I'm not trying to belittle you by any means. I'm trying to get a better understanding of the situation. I live in a relatively small town where good jobs are far and in between. So if I were to charge that much, I would never get any children. Whether I had to pick them up or not. Do you live in a city where the jobs are plentiful and pay a lot? I charge $10 a day before and after school. A lot of the children only need an hour before and 1 or 2 hours after school. I think anything more would be inappropriate. I understand that college students are in desperate need of some extra cash but so are you. You have 2+ mouths to feed. I would not charge more than what you were before. If you can afford it. All the candidates should understand that. Good luck!

A.,

$20 is full-scale nanny pay, not aftercare pay. $20 is changing diapers, giving baths, preparing and cooking meals... I think your $14/hr was generous and think you need to stand firm. In this economy, everyone wants $20 minimum. Yes, it's taking care of your children, and how do you put a price on that, but $20 (off the books) is more than many skilled labor jobs pay these days. Stand firm. You'll get your caregiver. These days, there are more people looking for work than jobs available. Your $14 is more than generous, especially adding in the gas money you were giving. Don't let desperation cloud your judgement.

Wow.. that sounds like a lot. I babysit after school for children.. I have a set monthly rate.. I pick up a little girl from school every day and just bring her to my house to play.. (so I'm not running around.. but I get 100. for the month. I also take this little girl to school in the a.m. - and I get another 100. for that. so the mom pays me 200 a month. I know it's low, but I am already going to this school to pick up my own kids.. so it's not out of the way for me. My friend does the kind of work you are talking about and she gets $12 an hour and gets 20 dollars a week more for gas. I never knew anyone to get as much as you are talking about unless they are going to your home earlier and preparing meals and doing laundry and other stuff too. 20 an hour is a lot ... I would call a service.. they don't even get that much... good luck