Babysitter Pay Rate?

[Juliacooper83]

I'm a mom to a 2 year old and haven't worked in 4 years, I'm ready to start working again and need a babysitter. Almost everything I've read says to pay a babysitter 10 to 15 (us dollars) an hour. I found a part time job working 5 hours a day, 5 days a week for 10 dollars an hour. My problem is that with what I would be getting paid I would break even paying a babysitter the same amount that I am making. Is 50 dollars a week too low to pay a babysitter to start out?

[Buenchico]

This is a UK-based website, so people here won't be familiar with how things work in the USA. You might get more meaningful responses here:
https://answers.yahoo.com/

You might also want to consider whether you're seeking a 'babysitter' (which, here in the UK at least, means someone who comes into your own home to look after your child) or a 'childminder' (which, in the UK, means someone who looks after several children at once in their own home).

Using a childminder (rather than a babysitter) obviously reduces the cost, as the childminder will be getting paid by the parents of more than one child. In the UK childminders are tightly regulated, with strict rules about how many children they can look after and the provision of facilities for them. A typical cost is around £4 (US$5.70) per hour but it varies greatly across the country. (You might also find that there are big differences across the USA, or even within a single state. So, if you post on Yahoo Answers it might be best to indicate roughly where you live).

[bednobs]

the simple solution is to become a babysitter

[VHG]

>>the simple solution is to become a babysitter

I know it was a joke but....

if she becomes a babysitter she would be earning say 10 dollars and hour, but then have to pay the babysitter who looks after her child 10 dollars an hour.

So she would gain nothing.

[fiction-factory]

Good point bednobs- to overcome VHG's point she could take her child with her to wherever she would do the babysitting.
But I wonder if Julia wants to get back into the sort of work she's done before