$100 a day.
An eight month old needs almost constant attention and they can be fussy as hell.
The twelve year old across the street charges 8 bucks per hour. The 12 year old across the back yard charges 10. Our favorite baby sitter, who just turned 16, charges 15 dollars an hour. We are a generous family and could probably talk them down a a buck or two if we tried, but why? Five dollars an hour is about $10,000 / year if your wife was working forty hours a week. That is insane.
My opinion only, YMMV, etc…
Oh, if she is doing for another reason than money, good on her. If she is doing it for the money, i.e. to bring in a little extra cash, she should at least go for $7 - 8 /hour minimum.
Isn’t a babysitter/nanny who comes to your house always going to cost more than someone who watches kids in their own home? That has been my observation, just for checking rates. I live in Chicago and I have seen more than a few craigslist posts offering to watch kids in home (ie, in sitter’s home) for about that rate. But I don’t think you’ll find a sitter to come to you for anywhere in that range.
I should say I’ve never actually had to hire childcare so I welcome correction.
Depending on the people involved, $35 is reasonable. My daughter’s daycare was $22 per day, now her after school care is $18 per day. I’ve had several babysitters over the years and usually pay $25-$30, one woman who sits three kids charges $20 each.
But, there are more extensive options. I checked out $200 a week daycares but they were actually teaching the kids less than my cheap place. Yet the richer folks brag that their kids go there and would scoff at a place only charging $22. I looked online for babysitters once and they all wanted $15-20 per hour. Sorry, I can’t afford to pay anyone a full salary.
It seems really cheap, but if I hired someone to come over to my house and babysit, I’d pay more because I’m taking all their time. But if they’re hanging out at their home doing what they’d normally do and my kid is hanging out with them, they’re getting one days couch and tv rent.
Hmm…you’ve hung out with an 8-month-old right? I mean, you must have, you’ve got a kid.
Did she just hang out and do her own thing while you were free to go about your day?
I’ve never employed a babysitter (or been employed as one) so I have no personal knowledge. But the recent TV ads show a well-off couple hiring a babysitter for forty dollars. The punchline of the ad is when she sees how luxurious their car is, she raises her price to sixty dollars. Yes, it’s a TV commercial but apparently the ad agency that made it figured forty dollars was a reasonable fee for a babysitter.
In any case, but especially since it’s a stranger, she needs to write up some sort of agreement that both parties sign. Seriously.
What are the specific hours she’s expected to work?
What’s the additional charge if the person works late? $5/hr? or more per hour because it’s outside the agreed upon time?
What if she just constantly shows up 15 to 20 minutes later than the agreed upon time? How will your wife handle that? IMO, she should charge for the whole hour.
She needs to make sure the person is Ok with her driving the child in her car. Will she have a car seat to use? She needs to have emergency information and a copy of the baby’s medical card.
There’s a lot more, I’m sure, but these are things my friend who does this has to think about so as avoid being taken advantage of by parents wanting a break, or in case of the child getting sick or hurt.
IMO, $35 for 7 hours is pretty low. At least $50 would be more fair.
Is it going to be long-term? I don’t know why, but I feel that makes a difference. $50.00 would be about 7.00 per hour. If it’s short-term I think $50.00 flat rate. Otherwise, $10.00 an hour if it’s longer term or if the lady might need more hours covered in the future.
I agree with butterfiles. I was just thinking that $35 is what my 13 year old daughter would come home with after kid-sitting my coworker’s 8 year old boy for four hours.
[quote=“Frylock, post:17, topic:686308”]
I think I’ll just let it go whatever the case may be. Part of what’s driving the price down, so to speak, is that she’s willing though for less just to feel like she’s doing something to bring in a little extra. Okay. That’s
Why I’ve been selling jewelry online. Sitting around the house waiting to die is not a very good way to go through life. My work skills have eroded,even though my A+ and NEtwork+ and my MCSA Is still good.My CCNA is expired,unfortunately have lost most of my skill sets,and no one wants to hire a old disabled ME
I’VE Opened up shop on ETSY , not doing much, but it makes me feel like.I’m trying.I need to bring in some money. Anything.
For what it’s worth, when I was working at a daycare, I babysat some of the kids on the side (weekends/after hours) for $5/hr. That was in 1994-1997.
I think a lot would depend on services rendered. If all she is doing is the minimum, making sure the baby doesn’t drown in dirty diapers and has something to eat every now and then, perhaps $35 isn’t bad. I think it’s a bit low, especially for a stranger.
More perks for the kid means more money.
My main concerns would be liability in watching over said child. What if something happens to the kids? What if the kids has unknown allergies? What if the parents are psychotic?
There is so much that can go wrong watching someone else’s kid(s) and how far out there, risk-wise, would you be willing to go for $35?
Holy hell childcare sounds cheap in the US! My Australian council-run daycare charges $100 per child per day (we have 2), and I’ve recently hired a mothers helper (to keep an eye on them while I’m working from home a day a week), the going rate is anywhere from $16-$25/hr - I pay $140 a day for this. My nanny’s 24 and a final year Childcare studies student (police check and working with children approved) so it’s a step above a babysitter. I’d die for $35/ day (and it would be illegal as below minimum wage here).
$70 per day, at a minimum.
$10 an hour is pretty typical for babysitting. So your wife is charging half price.
We pay a house/pet sitter $50 a day,and she’s a good friend who considers our house a nice vacation for herself.
ETA: our animals all shit outside and never demand attention.
I’m with you. I wouldn’t let my wife do this without talking to our insurance company and getting the proper coverage in place in case something happens to the kid while she’s in my wife’s care. Assuming that we would have to increase our coverage, $5 an hour wouldn’t be enough.
I know someone whose wife ran a daycare out of their house. She tripped on the stairs while holding one of the babies and the baby was hurt. The state was considering criminal charges for awhile, which they finally dropped. They spent a lot on lawyers and ultimately settled with the kid’s family. They weren’t properly insured so it was all out of their pockets.
Is this income going to be reported by the baby’s parents on their own taxes as a child care expense? If so, that is not enough money, your wife would then have to claim it as income on her own return.
All day recurring child care is different from weekend or occasional babysitting. $35 per day is about the going rate around here. I could maybe see going up to $45 before 12 months old. I would balk at anything paying higher than that, personally. Some people are as low as $20. But you do tend to get what you pay for!
In January, I had to find someone to take care of my son. For reference, she is registered with the state, cares for 4 other children at various times, and I do not have a subsidy. I pay her $15 per day, 2 days per week, 4 hours at a time. This is in the evening, with a meal and snack included. My son is 10. Her price is pretty much dead on with what I found calling around and price checking.
If I went to a neighbor or someone outside of the system and asked her to care for my child, I would expect to pay a slight premium over the going rates, because she was not caring for other children. And like I said before, for an infant I would go up to $45 maybe. That would be the maximum though, and I would expect the ratio to remain 1:1 most of the time.