How to adjust care.com rate for teen babysitter?

[Anonymous]

I posted on care.com and put our rate as $15/hour, because that is what I had planned to pay - thinking it would be a young professional or experienced babysitter etc. A few local teens wrote me back, which I have never experienced on care.com before - usually it's a different demographic. I would love to have a teenage babysitter I could call, but at the same time I would not expect to pay them $15/hr. Most of the teenagers I know (who are not close enough by to babysit, or I'd use them) charge about $10/hr. This is in outer VA suburbs, if it makes a difference. Is it rude to respond to a teenager and ask what her rate is, or explain that I typically pay HS sitters less? I don't really now how to backtrack here. Maybe I should offer $12/hr?

[Anonymous]

Twelve dollars an hour is a good rate for a teenager who babysits.

Perhaps you can change your ad to $12/up depending on experience.

[Anonymous]

I'd be especially careful about allowing an unknown minor into your home to care for your kids. You don't know her, her parents or her background. There is no way to do any sort of background check on them either. You are taking on A LOT of liability to save $10 a night.

[Anonymous]

Honestly, I would expect the same level of service out of a high school babysitter (assuming this is actually a babysitter not a longer-term gig) than a college or young professional. You can write back to say 12, though and see what they say. I am guessing they will accept anyway.

[Anonymous]

Respond to them and tell them you are very interested in them but you need wish to be honest and tell them the rate you were planning to pay was for someone with lots of experience and such, you would love a teenager to be active with the kids but are only able to pay $10 or $12 an hour.

[Anonymous]

What can an adult (college student or not) do that a teen can't? What difference would the same number of references make from a teen versus an adult? If you're talking about hiring a teen who you would need to drive home afterward, who would need to wait for a ride from their parent or who had done very little babysitting and had few good references, I would understand dropping the rate. Otherwise, what's the difference?

[Anonymous]

A 16 yr old does not have the same experience as a 30 yr old and doesn't deserve the same rate of pay. Either pass on the teen or be honest and say you'll pay $10 for a teen but the $15 was for an adult with experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A 16 yr old does not have the same experience as a 30 yr old and doesn't deserve the same rate of pay. Either pass on the teen or be honest and say you'll pay $10 for a teen but the $15 was for an adult with experience.

For a nanny or someone long-term, sure. But what is the difference for one babysitting 3-6 hour shift if there aren't infants or special needs?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What can an adult (college student or not) do that a teen can't? What difference would the same number of references make from a teen versus an adult? If you're talking about hiring a teen who you would need to drive home afterward, who would need to wait for a ride from their parent or who had done very little babysitting and had few good references, I would understand dropping the rate. Otherwise, what's the difference?

Not to be snarky, but there are a lot of differences between a teen vs. an adult.

Think back to when you were sixteen. You mindset, maturity level and life experience was so much different then.

An adult is by far more responsible, mature and overall just more experienced than a teen.

A teen is still a kid in many ways, they have not experienced many important things that an adult has.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What can an adult (college student or not) do that a teen can't? What difference would the same number of references make from a teen versus an adult? If you're talking about hiring a teen who you would need to drive home afterward, who would need to wait for a ride from their parent or who had done very little babysitting and had few good references, I would understand dropping the rate. Otherwise, what's the difference?

Not to be snarky, but there are a lot of differences between a teen vs. an adult.

Think back to when you were sixteen. You mindset, maturity level and life experience was so much different then.

An adult is by far more responsible, mature and overall just more experienced than a teen.

A teen is still a kid in many ways, they have not experienced many important things that an adult has.

Depending on the teen, they might have adequate experience. I babysat large sibling groups for 72+ hours straight as a teen, and there wasn't a single difference between what I could do at 16/17 versus 19 and in college.

My suggestion was to compare the number of references and if they are similar for a 16 or 17 year old as compared to a college student, look for whoever seemed the best regardless of age. If the teen is more mature than the college student (which is individual and not based on age), why should the teen be paid less?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A 16 yr old does not have the same experience as a 30 yr old and doesn't deserve the same rate of pay. Either pass on the teen or be honest and say you'll pay $10 for a teen but the $15 was for an adult with experience.

My daughter is 17 and has been getting $15/hr since she was 15. Her time is also valuable. I might add that She was booked in July for New Years Eve and is being p aidv$25/hr.