Adam@Home by Rob Harrell for August 08, 2012

Y’all are gonna laugh at me, but I earned $1.00 an hour, back in 1980. But I was never expected to do half the things sitters are required to do now. It was only just play a board game with the kid, watch the kid’s fave t.v. show, give them the bowl of ice cream their Mom and Dad allowed, a couple hours before bed. Read them a story, then put out the light. And they either were or were not awake still when Mom and Dad came home four hours later. The father drove you home if you weren’t old enough for a driver’s license, and he paid you before you got out of the car. (BTW everyone, please don’t sully my memories with something icky at this point. All the kids dads I knew were decent guys)

$10 for babysitting? Forgive me but that’s almost double minimum wage if you figure taxes in. Absurd.

In Ontario, “Student Minimum Wage” is $9.60/hr, and legally, that’s what you should pay them. They are supposed to – as of age 18 – claim that as income. Not that anyone does though.

Looks like Laura has an answer to that question. :)

I pay my babysitters well for a couple of reasons. First of all they are watching the most valuable things in my life and they should get paid more than a couple bucks an hour. Secondly, most of the ones that babysit for us have been background checked (at other places, not by me) and I feel safe with them in my home. Thirdly, I was once a babysitter and I really, really appreciated the parents who paid me extra because that was my only spending money as a teenager. Heck, it’s only a couple of dollars to me, but to them, it means a lot.

That is up to you two Adam.

I only ever charged an dollar an hour when I’ve baby sat for families in my neighborhood. A while back there was a family with baby twin boys and two slightly older girls who I would babysit at night quite a bit.The boys would usually be in their cribs by the time I got there and would usually go down about ten minutes later after I checked on them once or twice; the girls always wanted to watch “Babe” and so we would watch it, then I’d chase them upstairs, got them ready for bed, and then I would put a pillow on the floor and lie down in their bedroom while they got into their bunk bed.Typically it only took about five minutes for them to go down, and then I would go downstairs and watch something until their parents got home; after I got paid one of them would then drive me home since it would be pretty late, and boy do I miss that family, especially the twins.

I used to charge 50¢ an hour back in the 60’s. I knew some girls who would charge $1.00 an hour on New Year’s Eve because babysitters were harder to come by, and they could get away with it.

I sat for $1 an hour in the early 2000s, because the kid was my neighbor and we liked each other.

I babysat for $.35 per hour in the late 60’s and early 70’s. We were stationed at an Air Force Base in Germany and that was the going rate. I managed to save most of my money and it allowed me to buy a brand new car in 1974 for $3,600.00..I agree with you lightenup

I charge $5 an hour and half the time don’t get paid the full amount because “they cant afford it they did not realize they were gone so long”