Are you paying your sitter enough? According to the 2012 Park Slope Parents first Babysitter Survey that came out this week, a babysitter for 1 child makes an average of $14.50 an hour. And for 2 children? The sitter makes an average of $15.50 an hour. What about their neighborhood kid who is under 21 years that watches your kids? The make $2-3 less per hour. So, how does your pay scale measure up?
Their findings also noted that “$158 is the average cost of a date night AND babysitter combined (range $56-$229), not counting a car service or food for the sitter.” Makes forming a babysitting co-op sound much more interesting, doesn’t it?! (Find out how to form one here.)
Park Slope Parents also summed up some of their other findings:
Average cost of babysitter for 1 child $14.50/hr
Average cost of babysitter for 2 children $15.50/hr
Average cost of babysitter for 3 children $16.80/hr
Babysitters under 21 are paid $2-$3 less per hour than those over 21
Babysitters watching children under 1 make $1 more per hour.
4 in 10 (38%) of babysitters make $74 or more on a typical night.
Half (51%) of all parents using a sitter have used one once or twice a month over the last 6 months. 30% have used a sitter more often (once a week or more), while 18% use one less frequently or not at all.
Three in four (76%) use a sitter on Saturdays, making it the most common “date night.” Over half (54%) or all the parents use a sitter on weeknights.
Six in ten (63%) pay for a car service on top of the hourly fee.
6 in 10 parents spend between $75 and $125 on their “date night” (on top of what they pay their sitter).
90% of all the babysitters are over 21 years old. Half (55%) employ babysitters who are 22-30 years old, with 10% using those 18-21 and 3 in ten (29%) use babysitters over 30. Only 7% employ babysitters under 18.
97% of these occasional babysitters are female.
One third (33%) of babysitters live in the neighborhood, four in ten (41%) live close by (but not directly in the neighborhood), and one-fourth (25%) live father away.