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Some friends have offered to pay my daughter (14) to babysit for them while they're here on holiday during the summer. There will be two children under 9 with an occasional friend or two included. They have asked her to name a flat fee as notice could be short and hours long! While she is looking forward to the pocket money, she doesn't want to fleece them either! What do think might be appropriate? Or what is the current hourly rate?

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Hi Eos - we pay £20 if we're out for about 4 hours so approx £5 an hour... plus lifts and food.  I would add though that we would only use someone aged 16 or over... sorry to sound like a moaning mini but babysitters should be over 16 - (in the UK at least) your daughter would be considered a minor/child herself... there is an urban myth that 14 is OK but legally it isn't...

sorry... don't shout me down... just thought it was worth mentioning [:$]

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Anna - yes you are right in that there is no legal age limit.  I didn't explain myself very well... the problems lies in that if there were any incident children under the age of 16 would be considered children and the police/authorities would hold the parents responsible.  This could lead to parents being prosectuted for neglect for leaving children alone.  

I always thought that 14 was the age that was considered ok but last year attended child protection training for my work and the police were quite clear that it would be considered neglect.  They agreed that it is commonly thought that 14 is an acceptable age but they are trying to change this... my 15 year old was less than impressed when we explained that she couldn't babysite for her brothers and she had to have an 'adult' stay with them... I wasn't the most popular parent at the time...[Www]

EDIT - of course I've no idea what the French rules are so can't help in that respect... [:$]

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[quote user="Rose"]

 of course I've no idea what the French rules are so can't help in that respect... [:$]

[/quote]

 

Be very careful here. In France a babysitter should be of majority age ie. 18+ so that he/she is responsible for the children. Of course, that isn't always the case but if something goes wrong........................!

Technically a 14 year old is still a child (particularly here in France) and shouldn't be in charge of other children. Sorry, to put a dampener on this but when things go wrong they go wrong and when you're in a foreign country it can be a disaster!

 

 

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My comments are directed at the parents of the young children. I may be old fashioned, but not in my wildest dreams would I ever consider allowing a person of 14 being responsible for my children, no matter how mature they were. So many things could happen and expecting a 14 year old to have the experience and expertise of dealing with an emergency is both  unfair and irresponsible on the part of the parents.

Baz

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Thanks to all for their comments on this.

Having met with some friends over the weekend, both French and other nationalities, this topic did come up, as most of them have children who need to be babysat or who have done some babysitting.

The general consensus was that most 16-18+ year olds have social lives of their own and are very reluctant weekend babysitters. Most families, where possible, use their own parents or other, sometimes young, family members or entertain at home for that reason. One family said that they lost their babysitters almost as soon as they turned 15!

Anyway I will email my friend this evening to bring her up to date with this.

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Something I thought of when reading the latst LF magazine.

The employer is responcible for the employee and ensuring that any tax and/or social charges are paid. Under the Cheque Emploi scheme babysiters are one of the groups specifically mentioned as those who should be paid using this system.

Remeber if you employ somebody on the black you get 'done' as well as them.

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  • 6 months later...

Back to the original post!

What do babysitters charge (in France) for:

(a) evenings and (I see Rose suggests £5 per hour - is this the consensus?)

(b) longer stints e.g. a whole day?

My daughter has been asked to babysit and has no idea how much to charge (neither have the parents as this is the first time they have needed one).

 

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  • 9 months later...
I have a teenage babysitter that I pay 5$ per hour. She takes care of tow children of my, 3 and 5 years, and she's satisfied and do the job very well. So, I think this is the right price. Good luck!




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As a registered childminder I charge 4.23€ per hour brut (gross - all cotisations paid) + 2.65€ daily 'entretien'.  This is quite a generous salary compared with other local childminders. Obviously this is not quite the same as an evening babysitting but gives a guide.

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