“The Price For Those 3 Days Was Going To Be $840”: Babysitter Asks Parents To Still Pay Her For Her Service When They Cancel Last Minute
Babysitting requires patience, responsibility, and is a lot of work. So when Reddit user DancingQueenGreen was asked to look after a few boys for a few days while their parents attended a wedding out of state, she took it seriously.
Preparing for the gig, the Redditor even took time off her regular work. However, she later received an unexpected text from the couple, saying that her services are no longer needed.
The babysitter felt that she deserved to be paid at least what she would have made at her other job during that period, but the couple thought she was being ridiculous.
This babysitter requested time off from her regular job so she could take care of a few boys
Image credits: Ashton Bingham (not the actual photo)
However, their parents later said that her services are no longer needed and refused to compensate her at all
Image credits: Matilda Wormwood (not the actual photo)
Image credits: Liza Summer (not the actual photo)
Image credits: dancingqueengreen
Babysitting rates are skyrocketing all over the US
Image credits: LightFieldStudios (not the actual photo)
The sum that the Redditor wanted to charge the parents might seem high, but babysitting rates in the US rose 9.7% in 2022, which was a bit less than the 11% hike seen in 2021, but still outpacing inflation for the second year in a row.
This was largely because of a shortage of babysitters and other childcare workers — and the higher pay those remaining are able to command.
In fact, the industry reached a point where it is also attracting teachers, nurses, and other trained professionals into the career, which in turn drives up the rates even more because of their experience.
Last year’s national average babysitting rate was $22.68 an hour for one child, $25.37 an hour for two, and $27.70 an hour for three.
Among the major U.S. cities, the highest babysitting rates were in the San Francisco Bay Area ($25.24 an hour for one child) and Seattle ($24.60). Springfield, Missouri, had the lowest rate, at $11.35.
And parents are feeling it
Image credits: Iakobchuk (not the actual photo)
A 2022 Care.com survey revealed that 51% of U.S. parents were spending over 20% of their income on child care, far more than the 7% that the federal government deems “affordable.”
Because of that, working parents increasingly expect more childcare support from employers and the government, a recent KinderCare report found.
Childcare benefits are actually the second-highest reason parents stay at their job, behind health insurance.
The good thing is that a growing number of states, including New York, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Maine, and Connecticut, are offering childcare subsidies.
Hopefully, the situation will stabilize soon and parents won’t have to drain their pockets whenever they need a babysitter.
Most people who read her story think that the original poster (OP) was well within her moral rights to request partial compensation
But some thought that either the OP is in the wrong (YTA) or “everyone sucks here” (ESH)
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I want to know how the wedding party felt when the husband turned around and said “oh by the way we are now bringing our kids. Sort them out seats and food would you. “ NTA to the OP. But it was an expensive lesson to learn.
Yeah, exactly. They expect the wedding organizers to just jump for them too.
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Everyone thinking her rate was outrageous: she states in her post that after shopping around Claudia found her rates were cheaper. And if you break it down hourly it equates to $11 and change per hour. If you subtract the hours at night she’d be sleeping, even though still on call, it’s still only $17 and change per hour.
It's not her fees that are outrageous. Looking after kids is a ton of responsibility. It's the salaries that are outrageous. The gap between salaries and housing and services like this is widening so much that sooner or later this has to explode somehow.
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She's not an a*****e, but this is entirely on her. As someone who's been a freelancer / service provider myself through college – it was absolutely her responsibility to have a written contract with a clear cancelation policy, get a deposit or some payment upfront, etc. She hadn't done any of that. She's charging as professional but her conduct had been amateurish – that's on her.
I’m not sure if I can square “This is entirely on her” with the text of what you’ve written. The rest of what you’ve written reads more like it should be summarised “They were truly dreadful, selfish people, and she’s right to be kicking herself for leaving herself vulnerable.”
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I want to know how the wedding party felt when the husband turned around and said “oh by the way we are now bringing our kids. Sort them out seats and food would you. “ NTA to the OP. But it was an expensive lesson to learn.
Yeah, exactly. They expect the wedding organizers to just jump for them too.
Load More Replies... Everyone thinking her rate was outrageous: she states in her post that after shopping around Claudia found her rates were cheaper. And if you break it down hourly it equates to $11 and change per hour. If you subtract the hours at night she’d be sleeping, even though still on call, it’s still only $17 and change per hour.
It's not her fees that are outrageous. Looking after kids is a ton of responsibility. It's the salaries that are outrageous. The gap between salaries and housing and services like this is widening so much that sooner or later this has to explode somehow.
Load More Replies... She's not an a*****e, but this is entirely on her. As someone who's been a freelancer / service provider myself through college – it was absolutely her responsibility to have a written contract with a clear cancelation policy, get a deposit or some payment upfront, etc. She hadn't done any of that. She's charging as professional but her conduct had been amateurish – that's on her.
I’m not sure if I can square “This is entirely on her” with the text of what you’ve written. The rest of what you’ve written reads more like it should be summarised “They were truly dreadful, selfish people, and she’s right to be kicking herself for leaving herself vulnerable.”
Load More Replies...
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