compensation for international traveling babysitter

[Anonymous]

My aunt and uncle are planning their annual trip to France to visit our family. They have a (will be) six-year old daughter and would like to bring along a sitter. They are curious about the compensation sitters generally expect and earn on this kind of trip. They, of course, would pay for her plane ticket, meals and any excursions. The sitter would have a choice of staying either two weeks (and returning with my uncle) or staying a month (and returning with my aunt and cousin). What kind of compensation, that you know of, is offered on top of these benefits?

Thanks for any advice!

[Anonymous]

You could give her some hours off? or days?

plus some extra money for beeing out of her home...

ask her also what she would like to have for breakfast since she (probably) doenst eat generally with the family.

maybe would be nice buy a frame from France as a gift she would put her picture to remember

[Anonymous]

What sorts of hours would this person be asked to work? This sounds like a nanny, not a babysitter.

If it's full time, ie 40 h per week, I would think ballpark $600-$800/wk?

[Anonymous]

I think it definitely depends on what kind of hours they expect her to keep. If she's expected to be working (or even available) full-time, they should expect to compensate her at an equal rate to what they would pay a nanny at home. If they're just bringing her to stay with the child 2-3 hours a day while they go to museums, or a few hours in the evenings while they go out to dinners, then they should decide on an hourly rate.

Personally I think it's a bit strange to bring a sitter for a 6 year old - it would make more sense if it were an infant or toddler. We traveled internationally with my daughter between the ages of 1-4 and by the time she was 3-4 she could do almost all of what we were wanting to do as tourists (save long museum visits and late dinners). Do they not plan on bringing the child with them on excursions? Do you not have a sitter locally who could come over for dinners out? It just seems a bit excessive for a 6 year old.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks for all the advice so far. I am in total agreement with the idea that compensation will largely depend on the kind of hours they will need the sitter for. As for it being "excessive", my grandparents are getting old and they require a good amount of help when their children come visit. My mother and aunt spend most of their time on "vacation" cleaning up and helping my grandparents organize their things and business. This, as you can imagine, is no fun for a 6 yr. old. The nanny/sitter would be more of an aid in distraction and entertainment for my cousin. I will certainly mention the idea of finding a local sitter (perhaps a friend of the family) to my aunt.

Thanks again.

[Anonymous]

12:01 here - didn't mean to sound judgmental, but also didn't realize there was the grandparent component. The way the original post was written, sounded like the 6 year old's family was coming to visit your family for a normal family visit much like those we experienced while living overseas.

In your case it may be worthwhile to have a dedicated sitter, although again, depending on the hours they might be able to find someone locally which would save them a lot of $$ (plane tickets to Europe are not cheap these days).

Keep in mind that 6 year olds are also starting to be more competent at entertaining themselves, and probably like to watch tv./movies. Depending on how many hours a day of "work" everyone else has to do, they may be able to make do....