Current rate?

[Bumperstump Cummerbund]

Ladies, lets take back some of the control..... At 15yrs of age would any of us questioned $20 per night???? I don't think so.... And it has nothing to do with inflation....it has everything to do with being greedy.

My sister works in childcare, and she also babysits on nights and weekends, charging $15 per hour - more if there are more than 2 children. I understand what you're saying, but think of it from this angle: your babysitter has agreed to look after your children, presumably play with them for a while, get them ready for bed, read to them, put them in bed, and keep an eye on them while they're sleeping. All of this generally on a Friday night or on the weekend, when teenagers generally like to go out and have a good time.

Add to that the fact that, while you can discipline you're children (whatever way you choose to discipline them), a babysitter can't - EVER. And some kids take advantage of that, and push the limits, coz they realise the babysitter can't do anything about it. I have known my sister to drop her rate when the parents get back if the kids have been really easy to look after - having a $15 per hour rate gives her the ability to be flexible, but still fair on herself if the kids end up being rotten, KWIM?

[angelaartsstudent]

I babysat for a lady once who tried to pay me with a bag of Speed.

I turned her down...would have preferred the cash!

[mrsmac]

DD charges $10 per hour but she hasn't got her licence yet so she has to be driven home afterwards. I get her for free LOL

[~Jo~]

Wow that is crazy. I had no idea it was so expensive! My 15 yo dd works at macdonalds earning her now $8 an hour and she is happy with that. It allows her to appreciate the efforts of her work, and that nothing, is for free and a given right. It has allowed her to learn about the value of money, as she no longer receives pocket money for making her bed etc.

I cant believe it is costing that much money for a night out.

Jo

[MamaPan]

I pay about 15 per hour (i usually round it up) for evening babysitting.My sitter is amazing - she works in after school care, has done nannying and has all sorts of quals like paedeatric 1st aid etc. she usually comes when DS is in bed already but is great at settling him if she needs to or dealing with things that come up (like when he vomited on her). she also has 3 brothers under the age of 4 so is prob better with little boys than I am! LOL!! she is a uni student - 20yo.
When we were looking at nannies (ie full time) it was going to be $200 per day.

[Calluna]

I used to work in a childcare centre and picked up a few babysitting jobs from there.
I charge $15 negotiable per hour for one child ($5 extra per hour per extra child). I've found that this is a lot less than other people I've spoken to about it and that the people I regularly babysit for often insist on giving me more than that. Not that I ever would expect that from anyone.

Paying extra for quality doesn't always work, I get asked repeatedly to babysit by the same people and they often recommend me to their friends(so I must be doing something right).

ETA - I am 21 though so maybe less would be appropriate. Although I think the skills are what should be rewarded not the age of the person.

HTH

[luna moth]

I charge $20/hr in Brisbane if it's a cash day job. Nights, $15. Melbourne and Sydney I used to get more.

I charge that because no matter what the kids are doing (and I can handle pretty much anything, I've been doing it forever) I am away from my DH, not in my own home, perhaps I've given up a social engagement to do it. It's no different to a day at work for me.

For a teenager though, I'd say go for about what Maccas pays, that was roughly equivalent to what I got as a 14 year old. So, what's that these days, maybe about $9 or $10? Go for a bit less at night. Bear in mind that the better they like you (they're teenagers after all) the more likely they are to be available down the track.

For someone with no quals but a bit more mature (student etc) then maybe a bit more...

Hope that helps!

[Bathsheba]

I don't think it's fair to pay the same as what Macca pays, or $7 an hour which some people were quoting. For a start Macca is also paying superannuation for them ontop of their take-home wage... and they can also claim some work related expenses... and if they can't work due to illness they will still get paid (if they are not casual). Add all that up and you should probably pay the legal minimum wage of at least $12 an hour. Ok so they are taking it as cash in hand and not making a tax claim... but just because someone is young doesn't mean you should take advantage of their labour. JMO.

[Kazbah]

So where does one *find* a babysitter?

[fionas]

I pay $24 an hour for in-home care for a fully qualified childcare person but get 50% of that back from Kev.

I pay the same person $15 cash if we want to go out for the night and we've been too disorganised and not arranged care through the childcare centre and left it to the last minute.

DSD babysits for friends of ours and they pay her $12 per hour in the evenings - but she basically doesn't have to do anything. Gets there when the kids are in bed and would call them if one of the kids woke and couldn't settle.

[chel]

So where does one *find* a babysitter?

findababysitter.com.au is pretty good, there are lots of baby sitters and nannys to browse, so you can be a bit picky. I think there is a regitstration fee for parents though, but I dont think its much. Otherwise you can pay more and go through an agency, which will have a level of quality control - otherwise you can check out gumtree.com.au it totally free, and it CAN be good, but sometimes not so much!

[Melanie1]

I'm Melanie and live in Manor lakes, Wyndham vale. (not too far from Melbourne!) I am British and was a nanny for 20+ years in the UK. I now have 2 adopted kids attending Manor lakes College (g6 and b8). Was wondering what to do with some of my days and having just found this site, has given me an idea. What about private day care?? Just a thought, if anybody would be interested then contact me and we could always chat and go from there, plenty of references etc.

[fionas]

Sorry chel - I meant to respond to your questions earlier.

In-home care is a federal government scheme and childcare centres apply to be providers. What the means for the consumer (me) is that I can I access in-home care if I meet certain criteria. We qualify on the basis that DP is a shiftworker which means our childcare needs vary from week to week. Some weeks we don't need any childcare - others we might need a full day, others we might need two afternoons - so normal childcare options aren't great for us as we'd have to pay for three full days to keep our place but never use the full three days. Other criteria are three children under school age or running a business from home.

So, we basically filled out some forms for our provider (our local childcare centre) and provided some proof (letter from DP's employer verifying he was a shiftworker). Then we just let them know on the Friday what care we need for the following week.

As I said, we pay $24 per hour but we get 50% of that back from the government (just like you would for normal childcare).

Unfortunately in-home care is not widely publicised and I don't think there are that many providers at present but have a chat with your prospective employer and alert her to that possibility. There's more information aimed at providers here:
http://www.dest.gov.au/NR/rdonlyres/...200809FINA.pdf

I hope that answers your questions - if not, let me know and I'll try to reply more promptly this time!