March 17, 2009

Seriously?

So Saturday was a good day. Jamie and Taylor rocked the ward snow-sculpture contest with their Brooklyn Bridge. Ryan rode 60+ miles and didn't see a single deer. I started my first quilt. Doug stopped by on his way from San Fran to Rochester. We went out to dinner...and left Ella with a babysitter. The non-related kind.

This being our first paid babysitter, I needed to find out the going rate. I called my friend down the street who has three kids and asked her how much she paid. She told me 5 bucks an hour. I assumed that either 1.She was lying to me so she could outpay everyone and more easily get a sitter, or 2. She is really cheap. So at dinner we saw another couple from our neighborhood and I asked them. Their answer? $1 a child/hr, max $5/hr. Still not believing them, today I knocked on the door of one of the girls in our neighborhood who I know is a highly sought after sitter. I asked her what the range was, the very least she had ever been paid to the very most. Her answer: $3 to $5! Am I living in the ghetto? I distinctly remember being paid $3 for my first gig when I was 12. 18 years ago. I remember getting a raise to $5. Kimmy remembers getting paid $10.

So now I'm not sure what to do. $5 seems low, but if the neighborhood's got a good thing going who am I to rock it? Is my perspective skewed? I swear Thayer pays over $10. What do babysitters charge in your neck of the woods?

8 comments:

Jessica said...

I pay $5/hour to one of Brett's scouts- the only paid babysitter we've had. I don't really know how that is, but he comes back! I used to get $2 from most people and $3 from Kate was a fortune! I don't think I ever got $5. In San Diego, it's $10+

Bridget said...

We've only gotten a sitter 1 time. It was an adult friend of ours from church. When I asked around the lab, it was my understanding that the going rate was $10 for college/adult sitters and only slightly less for teenagers. Another non-medical person confirmed that was probably the going price. Made sense to me b/c I made $5 when I was in highschool. Maybe I need to find a sitter from your neighboorhood!

Camie said...

With my first babysitter, I asked her at the end of the night how much she charged, and she said $1 per child per hour. We were gone three hours. That would come to $3. So of course I said, "Well, we pay $5 an hour. How does that sound?" I still pay $5/hr.

Janice said...

Because I am leaving my most precious possessions with someone, I pay a minimum of $10 an hour. If I have an older person (college age) do it, it is closer to $20 and I include dinner with it.

Granted, we don't get babysitters very often but again, I am not asking them to watch my goldfish. They are watching my flesh and blood, the things I care most about in this world, who I have dedicated my life to, so $10 seems cheap to me.

Thayer said...

I told you! I was horrified when my sister in law told me what she paid babysitters - it seems like too little for watching humans. Maybe if you had 8 kids, it'd work out, but I'd err on the high side so you'll always have willing babysitters :)

Amy said...

You have to take a lot of things into consideration. Are there a lot of available babysitters in the area, or are you competing with the one or two good babysitters? How old are they? A 13 year old shouldn't need to get paid $10/hr. I pay $6.00/hr for my two boys here in Oregon. I usually get the 14 year old in our ward to babysit, and there a lot of potential babysitters here (hooray!). But I always err on the side of paying more, because a good, reliable babysitter is worth her/his weight in gold. This is why we never go out. A movie/dinner/babysitter usually runs us $75-$100.

kimmy girl said...

i still say you need to give the kid at least 10...but my concern is once again how i got out shined by jamie. What? I didnt come up with the brilliant idea to raid the dumpster in order to make the bridge and actual bridge? not to mention my hard work on carving out the arches...im just saying...i helped too. haha.

Jamie Wride said...

Kimmy...I'll give you the credit you deserve. It was your brilliant idea that saved the bridge.

And I can't believe how cheap babysitters are there! Some of my friends make $30+ and hour here, granted they are adults.