How much should I pay a babysitter?

[booker99]

One of our neighbours (a 14 year old girl) would make an ideal babysitter for us once the children are in bed...and her parents live very close so they would be on hand if anything happened...

Are there any legal issues with having a 14 year old as a babysitter and what is the going rate?

[NORMANTHEDOG]

�20 for a evening

[maggie01]

I thought you had to be 16 but not sure

[Littleowl]

If you have anyone under the age of 16 to babysit, you are still legally responsible if anything untowards happens to your child/ren.

[rosepetal]

A 14 year old is legally allowed to babysit. However, cannot be held responsible should anything happen to your children. Parents may be prosecuted if anything should happen and they are not seen as having taken sufficient steps to protect their children.

Most children's charities recommend 16 as the minimum age for babysitting. However, my sister is almost 18 and I still wouldn't let her anywhere my kids!!

[Fairie]

yes rose petal is right, i looked into this once as my babysitter was only 14, however i decided to carry on woth her as the kis loved her, and they were perfectly capable, i think it is something you need to judge yourself, i was babysitting at 13 myself and probably as able as a 16 year old!

[annie0000]

I think the law is defferent depending on whether you are under scottish or english law, but I could be wrong.

[hotcakekimmy]

i pay my babysitter �30-�40 for an evening but she is 19 and training to be a nursery nurse, i dont know what the legal sides of things are but a lady who lives opposite us has her 2 children babysat by a 15yr old and you wouldn't believe the things that go on in that house when the parents aren't there i would never trust anyone under 18 to look after my child unless i know and trust them fully if anything happened i would never forgive myself, dont forget a typical 14yr old girl is still a child themselves,

[SteveSxx]

I used to get �1.50 to �2.00 for a whole evening babysitting - mind you that was about 25 years ago

[sophie_1003]

im 20 and training to be a nursery nurse and get paid �5 p. hr to babysit for three children under 6, I wouldnt expect any more than that. If you are going to be out for quite a long time (say over 5 hrs) and your children dont get out of bed the girl should be happy to accept a basic rate for the whole evening, i would suggest �25, this way she'll be happy to do it again but you wont be paying out too much if you're out that long

[butterfly2]

You can babysit at 14. Probably 5-10 pounds for an evening. Maybe up the rate if she does it for a while.

[Juli1]

I think you should pay according to the hours she is serving you.rate at local level she is serving you www.babysittersregistry.com