How much should i be getting paid for babysitting for 10 hours a day?

Question

ok, i've know this lady for awhile and just about every summer she asks me or one of my sisters to watch one of her kids. The girl that i watch is 8 years old. I start at 6 in the morning and end at 4:30. I do this every day almost all summer.The only problem i have with the lady is that she never pays me on time. Plus she just gives me whatever she thinks i should get. And that's usually $60 a week for 10 hours a day. And i makes me mad because there is this other babysitter that she used to go to that charged like $25 a day. But then she sort of took advantage of me by having me babysit for her. So now this way she decides on how much i get paid.

I don't know what to do. Should i tell the her that i think she's under paying me or should i just tell her that i want her to pay me $15 a day? Help!!

Answer 1

minimum wage isn't an option.like someone else pointed out teens and non daycare professionals/nannies don't depend on that income to live from day to day.  if you want to get really technical, any employment that is under the table is illegal!!!!!  $3 an hr is a decent amount of cash to pay a sitter under the table.The child is 8 years old...pretty much you can sit around and watch tv all day if you wanted to. and there is no tax being deducted from from that amount either.  this girl is being grossly underpaid.....but by no means does that mean she gets minimum wage.  $3 an hour means $30 a day and thats very fair.

Answer 2

when i was younger and use to baby sit i made up a contract, with my price list on it! for ten hours a day every day she should pay you at least $150 a week, or $25 a day! for all of that you can get a real job!

Answer 3

You are the business owner, you decide what is a good amount for you to be paid. 10 hrs a day is a long day for someone to be spending their summer vacation babysitting. Once you decide on what is a fair price you must tell her. If she doesn't like it than she can find someone else to take advantage of. You will have an easier time finding someone else to sit for. Good Luck

Answer 4

If you are getting $60.00 a week this lady is paying you about $1.25 an hour for the amount of time you are giving her.  Yes, you are getting screwed.  $75.00 or $100.00 a week would be more appropriate.  You should tell her your price and see what she says.  If she wants your services bad enough she'll pay you.  If not, I'd walk.

Answer 5

minimum wage is like $6.25

Answer 6

She gives you 60.00 a WEEK?? She should be giving you that a DAY. Even 25.00 a day is not enough for babysitting 10 hours a day! What is minimum wage in your state? You should be getting ATLEAST that per hour.

For example, in my state minimum wage is 7.75 per hour. So if you were babysitting in my state, babysitting for 10 hours a day you should be making ATLEAST $77.50 per DAY. (again Im not sure what your states min. wage is).

Seriously...watching her kid every day for 10 hours a day cannot be worth a measly 60.00 a week. I think you should tell her you want atleast minimum wage (because it is the law..anything less than that is illegal) or you won't watch her kids anymore.

Allegory - you really think its okay to pay someone only $3.00 an hour to take care of your children for you!??? When you are hiring someone to take care of your children...you are essentialy hiring them as a nanny..many nannies make upwards of  $15.00 or more per hour. If you can't afford a nanny, then daycare costs about $30-$40 per day, but there is only two people per room watching about 15 kids at a time...$7.00 an hour is not alot of money, I don't know where you work, but $7.00 an hour is nothing. I guess if you work at McDonalds or something it might be alot....

Answer 7

The state of PA pays for babysitters as part of their return to work program, and they pay 17 dollars a day, no matter how many hours. I'd ask for a raise :D Good luck!

Answer 8

yes, you need to talk to her u are under pay.

Answer 9

Babysitting one 8 year old (assuming this is a normal 8 yr old, no special needs or excessive acting up) doesn't entitle you to minimum wage, but what she's paying you is not enough. If you're providing meals, you may be LOSING money, depending.

I know it's hard, but you've got to find a way to politely but firmly express yourself to her. You sound like you're feeling kind of victimized, but remember she can't and hasn't *forced* you to babysit for her.

Maybe you could shop around discreetly for some new clients? It would help if you were able to say "I could be making X amount of dollars babysitting for someone else instead."

Answer 10

For the same job I got payed $90 a week, so ya your defnly underpayed.

Answer 11

Bless your heart, and you should be making $60 a day! Minimum wage just went up to $6.55, and 10 hour days are rough on anyone, especially those in child care, so $65.50 less 1/3 for taxes=$45.85 a day.

I think she is taking advantage of you, and you need to either tell her you found another job, and can't help her anymore, or demand more money. If she appreciate what you do all day for her child, since she isn't home to raise them, and has to work, she'll figure it out.

As a parent who pays a lot weekly for childcare, I would love to find more affordable care, and Nannies are an expensive option, so not really an option.

Again, bless your heart...:D

Okay, I guess our childcare expense works out to less than $45 a day, but they also have a lot more children and paying parents to compensate their staff, accordingly.

Answer 12

I pay my babysitter $25 a day and my days range from 6-8 hours.  That pretty much equals half my take home pay for the two days I need her.  How old are you?  The girl is older too, so that'll decrease your rate somewhat.  I think a dime less than $20 a day is ridiculous.

Also, someone is telling you something innaccurate below. You're not entitled to minimum wage for babysitting jobs. If babysitters cost $7+ an hour, every mom would be a stay at home mom.  I just don't want you to end up asking for that and have you be laughed out of her home.

$2.50-$3 an hour is very reasonable to ask for days. Nights and weekends $5 an hour.

Nicole:  I only make $9 an hour before taxes.  I wouldn't be able to work if I had to pay a babysitter $7.75 an hour.  I pretty much split my check with my sitter.  There are many people in my situation....would you rather I collect a welfare check?  It is far from unreasonable to offer a teenager or stay at home mom $25 a day for one child....mine is thrilled to have a playmate for her child and bank a few dollars under the table. (teens and stay at home moms are not "nannies" and do not depend on this income for their livelihood)  Please think about that.  I don't work at McDonalds, but thanks for the dig.  It was really mature.

Answer 13

Well you're getting some good and bad info here.

Average babysitting rates will vary depending on where you are and the cost of living there....they will be significantly more expensive on the west and east coasts than in the midwest.

Minimum wage does NOT apply to babysitters as their "employers" are not a business....not to mention it's money not being reported to good ole uncle sam.  Even so, the minimum wage does not apply to all legit businesses and employers....wages for farm workers, for example are far less than minimum.  Persons under 18 are even paid a "student wage"  

Nannies are paid so well because they are generally employed by well to do families who are paying for their experience and expertise.  They also typically watch several children over long hours and occassionally overnights. The nannies I know personally make from $10-$25 an hour and watch anywhere from 1 to 6 children.  They are also responsible for transportation to extracurriculars/doctors visits if necessary, meal preparation, preschool education type activities, and light housework.  They are not typically used by middle class families for child care needs and are under much more pressure than most child care providers.

Your typical unliscenced teenage babysitter, stay at home mom, retired person etc generally charges $3 an hour for one child and $1-$2 for each additional child in the midwest. (Twice this amount if we're talking Fri/Sat Eve or the babysitting is not a regular thing)  I know of several sitters in my area who babysit for as little as $2 per child....but that's really getting to the bare minimum and they also tend to babysit several children at once.  I've heard the base rate for sitters on the west and east coast is higher at about $5-7 for the first child.  I think it's also important to note that you're not *legally* allowed to care for an unrelated child in your home without being liscenced in many states....but many people do take that minimal risk.  Liscenced  Daycares are $2.25-$3.25 per child and are allowed 6 children per adult....2 infants and 4 toddlers.  I'm unsure of west/east coast rates on liscenced daycare are these days. Most of these workers are paid little more than minimum wage with most of the proceeds going to building rental/mortgage/insurance/utilities/etc.  Private home daycares fare better as they have little overhead.

No matter where you are located, you are seriously being given the shaft.  You should be easily able to find someone to pay you twice what she is.  Granted, care for an 8 year old is not the same as for a toddler....but for your time and effort $60 a week for what sounds like a full time gig is completely unfair.  I would expect that an unliscenced child care provider working 40 hours a week would make between $120 and $150 per week depending on locale.  There are many families who find themselves without child care for the summer that will gladly pay you what you're worth if she can't....or won't.  $25 a day would be my final offer to her.  You can give whatever figure you feel you can accept.

Rates also come down to what people can  reasonably afford to pay.  There are people that DO pay $7-$10 an hour and think its quite reasonable....in my area (Michigan), jobs are scarce and you're lucky to be making $12 an hour working outside the home.  $3-$4 an hour is pretty much what everyone I know charges.   Don't be taken advantage of, but also remember that you can't get blood from a turnip.  

I hope this helped yourself and others who are confused/misguided on babysitting/daycare/nanny rates.  Good luck!

Answer 14

Child care is expensive, no doubt, but to answer this question a few things need to be considered.  You didn't say how old you are, one would expect to pay an adult more than a child because you expect more from an adult.  The girl is 8 years old, which means she doesn't require a great deal of "watching" or extra care as you would have with a small child.  You said the mother used to pay $25/day, but is that something she could afford?  If so, perhaps she would still be there.  If you aren't happy with the current arrangements you should let her know because if you grow increasingly resentful it will show in the way you interact with the child and it isn't her fault.  I would just let the mother know that you're happy to help her out if she needs you but your fees are $-- and leave the ball in her court.  Another way to look at this is, since you have one child to care for, why not two, and earn twice the money while giving some other lucky parents a financial break.