What to pay your babysitter now and why

Ever been confused about what to pay your babysitter or nanny? Join the club. Almost everyone out there has a differing view on what to pay, especially in this uncertain economic time period. Here's a breakdown of the criteria that go into payment, so that next time, you're prepared.

Sitter rates can be determined based on five differing criteria:

— The age of your babysitter

— The distance of your sitter to a metro area

— The number of kids you have (and the closeness of their age)

— The time period and type of job

— Sitter experience

To start with, an average rate that a college sitter receives in a major metro area in the United States is $11-$13 an hour. So that is the fee that most parents on this site will be seeing from their sitters. And the number of kids that a parent has is also a factor. If you have over two kids, consider raising your rate to $12-$15 an hour. Consider doing this as well if you have twins, since they are a handful. (I should know, I am one!) However, if the job is a night job, and you know that the sitter is probably going to spend most of it on the couch watching TV and eating your Terra Chips, lower your rates back to $11-$13 an hour, and explain this to the sitter.

If your sitter is younger than college-age, expect their rates to be about $2 lower. This is because they have less experience, may not be able to drive, etc. This is a general rule, and applies to both sitters and mother's helpers. In some cases, you may see a college sitter/nanny that is asking for $15 an hour, or even $20. The sitter may bill herself or himself at this rate because they have lots of experience. ("Lots of experience" generally means that they have been a full-time nanny and are qualified with disability, CPR, first aid, and lots more.) Some parents react badly to these higher rates, but some parents like them because they view them as a guarantee of quality. The interview should be the judge.

The farther away that you move from a metro area, the more rates change. Inside a city (and by this I mean the city and ten miles outside of it in every direction,) college sitters should stick with that $11 an hour rate, younger sitters about $8 for normal jobs of two kids or less. But once you move out of this range, into the range between ten miles out and forty miles out, rates can drop by $1-$2 for both kinds of sitter. And over fifty miles from a city, expect to see everything from $3 an hour to $10, depending on age.