The going rate for babysitters in my town is $15-20/hour. Even if we found someone, adding $60+ for a night out isn’t something we’re likely to do, especially on top of food and drink prices still feeling incredibly high.
We invite people over for board game night (with and without kids) and my spouse and I will go out with friends solo while the other stays home with the kids.
The going rate for babysitters in my town is $15-20/hour. Even if we found someone, adding $60+ for a night out isn’t something we’re likely to do, especially on top of food and drink prices still feeling incredibly high.
We invite people over for board game night (with and without kids) and my spouse and I will go out with friends solo while the other stays home with the kids.
Teens charge $20/hour here. Adults, it’s $30/hour. Aside from a few yearly events (work party or school fundraiser), there’s nothing I want to do that badly!
Came here to talk about the differences in cost. Paying $2-3/hour would change the game! (I get inflation, but $2 in the 80s/90s was still dirt cheap for a babysitter.) Even new babysitters in our area are expecting at least $12/hour, and often more. On top of that we usually order pizza for the kids/babysitter, so total we're often up to an extra $80-100 for a simple night out. We can *technically* afford it and yet it easily doubles our expenses: if we spend $100/$125 for a "nice" dinner, it then turns into $200+, which feels very different.
We had one family in our neighborhood with three teenage girls whose mom was very clear with them that they were to accept WHATEVER people could afford to pay them, and be grateful for it. They were fantastic babysitters but soon aged out due to an increase in activity load + then graduating and going off to college. Miss those days!
Same. We've hired teen babysitters a few times, and we plan to in the future, but rarely. If we do go out together, we usually only do it if a family member can watch them for free. It's just too expensive!!
Same prices here. I can theoretically afford it, and I want to support paying people what they're worth. But when my babysitting bill for dinner and a movie is $75, it changes the "is this worth it" calculus. I am very lucky to have teens in my neighborhood who are great and willing to babysit.
Minimum wage where I live is $15 an hour. Why would teens want to babysit for less than that when they can go work retail/fast food/movie theatre and work with friends?
That’s exactly it for us. We have paid $20-25/hour for baby-sitting and usually throw in dinner or snacks so it’s typically $100 before we’ve even left the house. It’s hard for it to feel “worth it.” We have my MIL baby-sit or ask friends and neighbors to monitor watch for us. Less flexibility but it’s also much cheaper.
The going rate for babysitters in my town is $15-20/hour. Even if we found someone, adding $60+ for a night out isn’t something we’re likely to do, especially on top of food and drink prices still feeling incredibly high.
We invite people over for board game night (with and without kids) and my spouse and I will go out with friends solo while the other stays home with the kids.
We pay our babysitters $25/hour for weekdays and $30/hour on nights & holidays, and I recently got my first quote for $35/hour. For one 3.5 year old!
When he was born - just 3 years ago - the going rate was $18-$20/hr.
My partner and I don’t feel like we can ever have a sitter for fun stuff; we can only afford it if we are earning money during that time too.
Teens charge $20/hour here. Adults, it’s $30/hour. Aside from a few yearly events (work party or school fundraiser), there’s nothing I want to do that badly!
Same. And honestly, the last thing I want to do after a long day of parenting is go out. I want to sit on my couch.
Came here to talk about the differences in cost. Paying $2-3/hour would change the game! (I get inflation, but $2 in the 80s/90s was still dirt cheap for a babysitter.) Even new babysitters in our area are expecting at least $12/hour, and often more. On top of that we usually order pizza for the kids/babysitter, so total we're often up to an extra $80-100 for a simple night out. We can *technically* afford it and yet it easily doubles our expenses: if we spend $100/$125 for a "nice" dinner, it then turns into $200+, which feels very different.
We had one family in our neighborhood with three teenage girls whose mom was very clear with them that they were to accept WHATEVER people could afford to pay them, and be grateful for it. They were fantastic babysitters but soon aged out due to an increase in activity load + then graduating and going off to college. Miss those days!
Same. We've hired teen babysitters a few times, and we plan to in the future, but rarely. If we do go out together, we usually only do it if a family member can watch them for free. It's just too expensive!!
Same prices here. I can theoretically afford it, and I want to support paying people what they're worth. But when my babysitting bill for dinner and a movie is $75, it changes the "is this worth it" calculus. I am very lucky to have teens in my neighborhood who are great and willing to babysit.
Minimum wage where I live is $15 an hour. Why would teens want to babysit for less than that when they can go work retail/fast food/movie theatre and work with friends?
That’s exactly it for us. We have paid $20-25/hour for baby-sitting and usually throw in dinner or snacks so it’s typically $100 before we’ve even left the house. It’s hard for it to feel “worth it.” We have my MIL baby-sit or ask friends and neighbors to monitor watch for us. Less flexibility but it’s also much cheaper.