# Babysitters and hourly payment? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 5, 2001, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babysitters-and-hourly-payment/64465 "2001-05-05T20:25:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mr.Cynical](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ee59a6/32.png) [@Mr.Cynical](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Cynical)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2001, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babysitters-and-hourly-payment/64465/1 "2001-05-05T20:25:04Z")
How much would YOU pay a babysitter who is a college student, fully trained in CPR and all that stuff for a saturday night? I’m thinking $10 an hour should suffice, but I’m looking for opinions here, folks 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2001, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babysitters-and-hourly-payment/64465/2 "2001-05-05T20:32:01Z")
You need to check and find out what the other parents in your area are paying, **Manservant Hecubus**. Rates for babysitters are very fluid and depend upon a lot more than the qualifications of the b/s in question. Even if all she does is eat and run up your long distance bill, if she’s the only game in town, she’ll command top dollar. Good luck. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Cynical](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ee59a6/32.png) [@Mr.Cynical](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Cynical)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2001, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babysitters-and-hourly-payment/64465/3 "2001-05-05T20:41:54Z")
You mean I have to overcome my shyness ans actually SPEAK to the people I’ve lived near for the last three years? What about my cloak of mystery? ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2001, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babysitters-and-hourly-payment/64465/4 "2001-05-05T21:39:33Z")
Oh, a cloak of mystery’s great … but keep in mind what the CIA probably pays for their babysitters. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2001, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babysitters-and-hourly-payment/64465/5 "2001-05-05T21:58:46Z")
it also depends if they have a a legla child care liscence and what there required to do ie change diapers which can get ya 3 bucks more a hour also something to be careful is watch out how many kids becuase in ca is it possible to ge t nailed for having someone unliscened watch your 4 kids becuase the official rule is anything over 3 ya gotta have one my autn who had 7 used to be hassled by this al lthe time ---
**Author:** ![CnoteChris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/278dde/32.png) [@CnoteChris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CnoteChris)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2001, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babysitters-and-hourly-payment/64465/6 "2001-05-05T23:20:13Z")
I’d pay **nightshadea** ten bucks an hour to _stay away_ from my place, if that’s any indication to you. ---
**Author:** ![Wicked\_Blue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/2acd7d/32.png) [@Wicked\_Blue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wicked_Blue)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2001, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babysitters-and-hourly-payment/64465/7 "2001-05-05T23:43:19Z")
Shit, I’d babysit for ten dollars an hour. I think that’s pretty generous, Hecubus. Rose ---
**Author:** ![Medea\_s\_Child](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Medea\_s\_Child](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Medea_s_Child)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2001, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babysitters-and-hourly-payment/64465/8 "2001-05-06T01:01:35Z")
If you get ten bucks an hour, I’m moving to your area. Try $5. Though I have gotten $10/hr. Once. New Year’s eve. $10/hr, plus whatever I wanted for dinner delivered plus two of my favorite movies waiting on top of the tv. ---
**Author:** ![CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crankyasanoldman/32/11670_2.png) [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrankyAsAnOldMan)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2001, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babysitters-and-hourly-payment/64465/9 "2001-05-06T01:09:46Z")
Nightsheadeaiea, I don’t think he’s talking about a daycare situation. I think he’s talking about getting Buffy, who wants to earn money to meet high school prom expenses, to babysit one evening while he hits the Steak-N-Shake and takes in “Joe Dirt” with the wife. I was thinking of paying around $7 an hour, but that was totally theoretical since we’ve yet to hire this sort of babysitter. Grandma and a baby-lusting co-worker have fulfilled our needs thus far. I’d go as high as $10 if that was the going rate. Or even if it wasn’t, if I liked the person and trusted him or her. ---
**Author:** ![VenusGirlTrap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/58956e/32.png) [@VenusGirlTrap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VenusGirlTrap)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2001, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babysitters-and-hourly-payment/64465/10 "2001-05-06T01:26:18Z")
I think $10 an hour is really good. You should always include pizza though, perferably from a place with cute delivery guys. One time I babysat a kid that just wanted to sit in her room and read books. I feel asleep on the couch and when the parents came home I felt so bad. Then I had the kid that wanted to play cops and robbers, he was fun. ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Silver\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Fire)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2001, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babysitters-and-hourly-payment/64465/11 "2001-05-06T04:43:44Z")
Five dollars an hour? TEN dollars an hour?? Back in _my_ day (BWAHAHAHAHA!!! I’ve never said that before… I sound like my dad. Creepy.) we got like $1.50 per hour, per kid. And pizza?? HA! We got to sit on the little playschool picnic table and eat mac n’ cheese with the little ones. You don’t even want to know what I’d do for you for $10 an hour, **Manservant**. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![StephenG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7feea3/32.png) [@StephenG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StephenG)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2001, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babysitters-and-hourly-payment/64465/12 "2001-05-06T05:39:46Z")
I used to get $4-7 when I was in middle school, for 1-3 kids. It was good money to me at the time, and the parents were happy, so it worked out well. From the college point of view … yeah, $10 seems like a decent rate. Course, this is from someone in the suburbs. If you live in the city, they might expect more. If you live out in the stic-- er, a more rural area, they might not even be expecting so much. Talk to your neighbors with kids, heck, talk to your potential babysitter! Pizza? I never got pizza. It was whatever the kids were having, plus maybe whatever I wanted in the fridge. Hey, **Silver** : Welcome back! And I’ve got this $20 bill here… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![ghandi5569](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@ghandi5569](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ghandi5569)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2001, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babysitters-and-hourly-payment/64465/13 "2001-05-06T15:53:57Z")
College kids are poor. Being a college student, one who particularly hates small children, I have stooped to baby-sitting as a form of quick cash. I expect that I will get the going rate for a campus job (here %.15 an hour, on bigger campuses, its usually higher). If I don’t get paid what I would get at a campus job, then babysitting (when I hate it) is a waste of my time. So, find out what campus pays…if the babysitter is good and the kids like them, pay more. But pay at least minimum wage per hour; anything above that is a bonus for hard work. Or hire me. I can be cheerful and nice and prevent your children from killing each other for $10 an hour. And I won’t even talk on the phone or eat your food. ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Silver\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Fire)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2001, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babysitters-and-hourly-payment/64465/14 "2001-05-06T18:34:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by StephenG \* > Hey, **Silver** : Welcome back! Hey, thanks. 🙂 Now about that $20… Are you calling me a “person of loose morals (if any at all) who will accept (if not demand) payment for physical demonstration of said loose morals”?? 😉 So Mr. Cyn… \< ahem \> **Manservant** … What did you pay the sitter? ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2001, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babysitters-and-hourly-payment/64465/15 "2001-05-06T19:43:44Z")
Here in Downstate Illinois, Buffy gets $5 per hour, per kid, and transportation if she needs it. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2001, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babysitters-and-hourly-payment/64465/16 "2001-05-06T19:46:36Z")
Er, but “Buffy” (reading over my shoulder here) wishes to clarify that she doesn’t charge $5 per hour per kid if it’s people she likes, with nice kids who don’t give her a lot of hassle–she just charges them a flat $5 per hour. Especially if they have pizza or snacks and don’t care how much she eats. ---
**Author:** ![RickG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rickg/32/5174_2.png) [@RickG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickG)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2001, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babysitters-and-hourly-payment/64465/17 "2001-05-06T20:31:01Z")
Here in beautiful Boulder, high school sitters who’ve had the YMCA training course (includes first aid training) get about $5/hour for 1 or 2 kids, more for additional kids. For college age sitters, we usually pay about $8/hr, again with a surcharge of about $3-5/hr for more than 2 kids (we sometimes have group babysitting/sleepovers when we go out with other parents). Dinner/snacks are included, of course. Ten bucks an hour seems reasonable, especially in a big city . Rick ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2001, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babysitters-and-hourly-payment/64465/18 "2001-05-06T20:48:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Wicked Blue \* > \*\*Shit, I’d babysit for ten dollars an hour. \*\* Yeah, but would you babysit _me_ for $10/hr? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Sue\_Duhnym](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/91b2a8/32.png) [@Sue\_Duhnym](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sue_Duhnym)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2001, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babysitters-and-hourly-payment/64465/19 "2001-05-06T22:57:41Z")
I think it also depends on the age of your child, the age of the sitter and when (and how long) you’re going to be gone. I pay our 21yo part-time nanny $15/hr, but I know her life history, she transports herself (except when ToddlerNym is with her, then she uses my car), she pays her own taxes and she’s REALLY good. (My husband would say she deserves the salary just because she never wears a bra.) Hubby’s cousin, a 26yo elementary school science teacher gets $10/hr, because she’s a relative and it’s under the table. Next-door neighbor girl, a very mature 10yo, never watches the kid for more than 2 hrs alone, if she’s alone at all. Usually we use her to keep a group of kids occupied and out of trouble if we’re having guests over. We pay her $5/hr, anymore than that and her mom would object. Almost 14yo girl on the other side of our house apparently gets $8/hr, but we haven’t used her. IIRC you only have one kid, about 10 months old. I’d say $10 is very competative. You could probably get away with $8, but since she’s your neighbor and you’ll probably want to use her again, cough up the extra money and she’ll cancel other gigs to work for YOU! Have a good time! ps Occassionally our Nanny travels with us, and in those instances we pay all her travel expenses plus $100 per diem. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2001, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babysitters-and-hourly-payment/64465/20 "2001-05-12T18:41:42Z")
My daughter, age 15, has just started sitting - they pay her $5/hr for 2 kids, plus a $5 tip. I’ve asked her what her friends charge and she claims to have no idea. I’ll not even go into how I just made 50 cents an hour, 75 cents after midnight, and I was damned lucky to get THAT!!! Sorry - had a brief geezer moment there… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babysitters-and-hourly-payment/64465.md?page=2)