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I just read the the national average for babysitting is $21 an hour.
Sounds reasonable.
Back in the mid 70's I was making about $3/hour for two girls. If I was there after midnight she usually gave me another $10. I was paid very well. I am still friends with the family.
I just read the the national average for babysitting is $21 an hour.
Can that be true? When I was in school, seemed to me that babysitters were paid about half of the minimum wage.
I was in high school in the 70s. Minimum wage was $1.80. I got 50 cents to $1.00 per hour for babysitting short jobs. One summer, probably 1975, I babysat all summer. That kind of full time babysitting job paid less per hour than short jobs did. I watched 2 kids, 9 hours a day, 5 days a week. I was paid $30 a week. Not per day. For the whole week. That was typical in my area, at least among my friends.
Thank goodness my kids are all grown because no way would I pay a teenager $20+ an hour, especially if the kids were in bed and the teenager was just playing video games or whatever they do.
I was in high school in the 70s. Minimum wage was $1.80. I got 50 cents to $1.00 per hour for babysitting short jobs. One summer, probably 1975, I babysat all summer. That kind of full time babysitting job paid less per hour than short jobs did. I watched 2 kids, 9 hours a day, 5 days a week. I was paid $30 a week. Not per day. For the whole week. That was typical in my area, at least among my friends.
Thank goodness my kids are all grown because no way would I pay a teenager $20+ an hour, especially if the kids were in bed and the teenager was just playing video games or whatever they do.
That's basically how I feel. There were a few times last summer we really needed a sitter to help out during the day and we paid $25 an hour I think...she took them to the beach mostly.
There are cheaper, more fun (for the kids), and safer alternatives to babysitters; parent's nights out at the YMCA, gym[nastics], or whatever extracurriculars your kids do.
Our school's PTO hosts them as fundraisers as well, with our awesome principal volunteering to make sure the usual safety standards are upheld. They run about 1/3 the cost of a babysitter, and the kids are over-the-moon about a movie/dance party night with their classmates.
Of course, you have to conform to their schedule, so I guess you get what you pay for.
That doesn't work for younger kids, though, who might have to be put to bed or need feedings and diaper changes. And what if the parents' event runs later than these kid events? A couple going to the city for dinner and a show aren't going.to be back at 9 pm to pick up the kids.
Like many who are over 30, I started babysitting at 12 or 13, and was a mother's helper before that. It seems like most people don't trust middle schoolers to watch their kids for hours anymore, so you can't expect to pay middle school rates. If a sitter is watching your kids on a Friday or Saturday night, they could be waiting tables and picking up tips on the same evening. It doesn't make sense for them to give up a whole night for the pay they would get for an hour of work elsewhere.
^^That's a very good point. My high schooler does some babysitting and usually gets paid in the $15 per hour, but when she was a middle schooler should would have babysit for half that much if someone offered. The difference between a middle schooler and a high schooler is that middle schoolers have very little opportunity to earn money, while a high schooler's time is worth more because they have a lot more options for paid employment.
I think part of it is some people/teens don't want to be waiting tables. Not all teens are desperate for money particularly if they have parents helping them out. When I was that age I'd take minding kids for less over waiting tables.
I don't think many kids/teens work at all compared to a few decades ago. Either parents deem it unsafe or they're busy with extracurricular activities or sports (or busy online) but, yeah, working parents pretty much give them what they want...
"In my day," once I was old enough to work it was up to me to buy extras beyond basic wardrobe, food, and shelter, and I was proud and happy to earn that money.
I babysat twice (between 13 and 15 years of age). I do not recall the pay. I only recall the horror. I know that it was something my eldest sister set up for me to do (not something I sought out on my own). I should have paid them because I was convinced by that to never have children.
I don't remember what I got for babysitting when I started doing that at age twelve (I remember that my allowance shortly before that was fifty cents a week), but it certainly wasn't equal to or more than what many adults earned at their grown-up, full-time, adult jobs. Ridiculous! But, as with tipping, all it takes is a few self-congratulatory people being a little too generous to set the standard and create that expectation resulting in a sense of entitlement that ruins it for everyone else...
Well, that explains why my mom robbed my piggy bank. I remember my dad giving me $5 a week (and I think you and I are about the same age).
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