How Much Do Babysitters Cost Now?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am having kids in the next few months and I’m curious what the hourly rate is babysitters in the DC area now? When I was a child 25 years ago my parents would pay $10 an hour, but I have no idea what people pay now.

Minimum $20 and more for each additional child
Do not expect them to clean your house but they should come up mess they make but they don't cook dinner.
Order pizza, give a nice tip, don't stay out longer than original plan. Be nice and you have a babysitter you can count on.

Why would you tip a babysitter?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am having kids in the next few months and I’m curious what the hourly rate is babysitters in the DC area now? When I was a child 25 years ago my parents would pay $10 an hour, but I have no idea what people pay now.

Minimum $20 and more for each additional child
Do not expect them to clean your house but they should come up mess they make but they don't cook dinner.
Order pizza, give a nice tip, don't stay out longer than original plan. Be nice and you have a babysitter you can count on.

Why would you tip a babysitter?

Because you want someone who will stay with you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I use college/graduate school babysitters. Pay $25/hr for 1 toddler, plus dinner, and add an hour in case they were lying that my DC was well behaved.

I bet your sitters love you! My daughter sometimes watches 3 kids and the parents don’t even round up to the hour—her last payment ended with .50.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am having kids in the next few months and I’m curious what the hourly rate is babysitters in the DC area now? When I was a child 25 years ago my parents would pay $10 an hour, but I have no idea what people pay now.

Minimum $20 and more for each additional child
Do not expect them to clean your house but they should come up mess they make but they don't cook dinner.
Order pizza, give a nice tip, don't stay out longer than original plan. Be nice and you have a babysitter you can count on.

Why would you tip a babysitter?

Because you want someone who will stay with you.

But why wouldn't you just pay them a great wage? All the $$ goes directly to them already...it makes no sense to tip. Do you understand tipping?

Do folks really tip babysitters?

[Anonymous]

We pay $25/h for two (very easy) kids.

[Anonymous]

$15 for a teen

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am having kids in the next few months and I’m curious what the hourly rate is babysitters in the DC area now? When I was a child 25 years ago my parents would pay $10 an hour, but I have no idea what people pay now.

If you put $10 in a CPI inflation calculator for Jan 2000 and ask for May 2025, it will tell you 19.04. So $20 sounds right.

https://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm

For infants, I'd recommend paying more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am having kids in the next few months and I’m curious what the hourly rate is babysitters in the DC area now? When I was a child 25 years ago my parents would pay $10 an hour, but I have no idea what people pay now.

Minimum $20 and more for each additional child
Do not expect them to clean your house but they should come up mess they make but they don't cook dinner.
Order pizza, give a nice tip, don't stay out longer than original plan. Be nice and you have a babysitter you can count on.

Why would you tip a babysitter?

Because you want someone who will stay with you.

But why wouldn't you just pay them a great wage? All the $$ goes directly to them already...it makes no sense to tip. Do you understand tipping?

Do folks really tip babysitters?

It's not tipping, but if I come home to a spotless house, I give them a bonus.

[Anonymous]

I pay $20 an hour for a high schooler for my 6 and 11 year olds (the latter is basically self sufficient). I always round up, provide dinner and good snacks, and rides if needed. The two girls we use regularly say yes.

[Anonymous]

My 17 year old (with first aid and CPR certs) gets $20 an hour for one kid, plus $5 an hour for each additional kid. Plus the uber home if it's late.

She has declined jobs offering less. Not like she has rent to pay.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:$15/hr for three ES kids. No driving.

I have many takers so it’s clearly enough.

Where do you live? I made more than this as a teen in 1998.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My 17 year old (with first aid and CPR certs) gets $20 an hour for one kid, plus $5 an hour for each additional kid. Plus the uber home if it's late.

She has declined jobs offering less. Not like she has rent to pay.

Kudos to your teen. Caring for a child is the most important job there is, and should be compensated accordingly.

[Anonymous]

Those of you paying $30 for a sitter are crazy.
Unless they’re tutoring your kid in a foreign language or you have 8 kids there are definitely people out there who are perfectly capable of watching Larlo for a couple of hours before bed. I bet they’ll even build Lego’s and play Candyland.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Those of you paying $30 for a sitter are crazy.
Unless they’re tutoring your kid in a foreign language or you have 8 kids there are definitely people out there who are perfectly capable of watching Larlo for a couple of hours before bed. I bet they’ll even build Lego’s and play Candyland.

Costs and wages are going up. Most adults will want 30$/hr. If the kids are fairly grown (not babies) and the hours are reasonable, teens and college students will accept less, maybe 15$/hr for a teen and 20$/hr for a college student.

[Anonymous]

This all depends on where.