How to Set a Pay Rate for a Babysitter

Babysitting is a way to make extra money if you are a teenager or pre-teen. However, many adults also perform babysitting tasks as full time work. The pay rate of a babysitter will depend on many factors and may even boil down to a personal negotiation between you and your babysitter. Babysitters command anywhere from five to twenty-five dollars per hour.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Find out how much experience your babysitter has. You should ask this at the interview you conduct. The more experience the person has the higher the pay rate can be.

2. Make a list of duties that the babysitter will perform. If you hire a sitter to come over for the evening so you can go out, the pay rate should be less since the children will be asleep for most of the shift.

3. Take into account how many children the babysitter will look after. More than one child is going to cost more but should not be double.

4. Ask the babysitter to pick up your children from school or after school activities. The pay rate you set for this type of babysitting service is higher than the rate for just coming to your house.

5. Allow your babysitter to care for your children at his or her house. If you give this latitude to your babysitter, you should be able to cut the price a bit since the person will be at his home and able to perform other tasks than just looking after your kids.