11 Plus Exams Forum

My Dd age 16 and in year 12 has been asked to babysit this saturday for two children 5 and 3 . Any ideas what the going rate is per hour to charge . We live in Surry/SW London if that makes a difference.

Do you charge less for "friends"

My DD aged 15 is getting around £5 an hour, more if after midnight - and all her "engagements" have been with friends of mine - that's the most common way into babysitting I would have thought. Obviously if I was sitting for a friend to help out in an emergency I wouldn't expect to be paid but teenagers depend on this income and most people are happy to pay, especially a friend of the family.

Teenagers that I know would expect £5 per hour too, seems to be the going rate round us.

I agree £5 an hour (or part thereof), expect it to be rounded up not down and don't take any change.

and if they can't be pickedup/taken home, perhaps a taxi too?

Maybe I'm mean, but not a taxi too. If it's not possible to get them home more cheaply than that, it would be better to have an adult at adult rates who can get themselves home. Or maybe they could stay the night instead?

we used to do roughly £20 up to midnight and £25/30 afterwards. Sometimes we "won" sometimes they did. And take them home. Say they could use the phone, but not call mobiles, and to renew the call after 59 mins!

I wouldn't be happy letting my 16 year old go home in a taxi alone. If the people she was babysitting for couldn't give her a lift home I'd pick her up myself.

We have used a babysitter who was 17, she charged £6 per hour, was able to drive herself so no problems with getting home, she also had a 1st aid certificate and a CRB check. We have also used a 15 year old who we paid £5 per hour, she is a local girl and we always walked her home.
Hope this helps.

Thanks everyone . Very helpful. £5.00 per hour was what I thought about right. Family have now cancelled the job for saturday so maybe next time for her,