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#1
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infant care question
I will be going back to finish my PhD on a part time basis toward the
end of the summer and by then my baby will be about 4 months old. A good friend of mine has offered to watch her while I am at work/school, and I want to pay her a fair rate for the care (she has 2 young sons and is a SAHM). I know rates vary based on geography, I am in a mid-upper cost of living part of the US. Most providers in my area charge full time rates only, in the range of about 500-700$ a month; my 4 year old goes to preschool 3x a week for a full day and we pay about 300$ a month. Basically, my hours will be variable and flexible - I expect to need her care from 15-20 hours a week, depending on the week. Should I pay her by the hour, or pay her by the week/month? For part time what would you deem to be a reasonable rate of pay? I want this arrangement to be mutually beneficial and she has said to pay her the 'lowest end of the scale', and has been vague about her monetary expectations - while that is appealing since we aren't making loads of money, I do want to pay her fair value for her services - any thoughts? cara |
#2
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infant care question
cara wrote:
Should I pay her by the hour, or pay her by the week/month? Depends ;-) I paid my provider in a similar situation by the hour. There were many times I had to work around her schedule, she'd call and I couldn't go because her kids were in the hospital etc. So being flexible and paying hourly worked well for both of us. If you want her to be very dependable, and if she can be, then a weekly amount with an agreement between 15-20 hours of care would be nice. For part time what would you deem to be a reasonable rate of pay? I think you'd have to call a few home providers in your area to see what they charge to really know. A couple other things to consider when using this type of ca Do you want to take your baby when her kids are sick? Is she willing to? Can she take the baby out or do you want her to be at home? Talk about taxes. Some people expect that it will be tax free money but if you claim the exemptions, she'll have to claim the income. Save yourselves some heartache by keeping a log of the payments for when you do taxes :-) This type of provider worked very well for me for quite some time. Good luck! :-) -- Nikki Mama to Hunter (5) and Luke (3) |
#3
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infant care question
Hi - I live in an expensive area. Home-care rates seem to run about $10/hour. Have you considered offering a rate that's a bit below market (and you'd have to ask around YOUR area to find what the market is) and in ADDITION offer to babysit for her kids every 2nd or 3rd Saturday, no charge? I'd stick with an hourly rate, by the way, rather than a weekly one, or one of you will wind up feeling that the arrangement is unfair. Just my two cents, --Beth Kevles http://web.mit.edu/kevles/www/nomilk.html -- a page for the milk-allergic Disclaimer: Nothing in this message should be construed as medical advice. Please consult with your own medical practicioner. NOTE: No email is read at my MIT address. Use the AOL one if you would like me to reply. |
#4
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infant care question
cara wrote:
Basically, my hours will be variable and flexible - I expect to need her care from 15-20 hours a week, depending on the week. Should I pay her by the hour, or pay her by the week/month? For part time what would you deem to be a reasonable rate of pay? I want this arrangement to be mutually beneficial and she has said to pay her the 'lowest end of the scale', and has been vague about her monetary expectations - while that is appealing since we aren't making loads of money, I do want to pay her fair value for her services - any thoughts? I'm in Atlanta (just so you have a geographic comparison). We had a part time nanny when DD was an infant. Our agreement with her was to guarentee pay for 20 hours per week whether we used her 20 hours or not. As it turns out, she ended up wanting more hours and we found that 20 hours was too little so we ended up paying her what she worked which was about 30 hours a week. She was very flexible, but we did give her a schedule for the next week the thursday or friday of the previous week and tried to keep it pretty consistant. We paid her $13 an hour, plus we paid into social security (DH did this so I don't know all the legalities of it, but we paid her above board and reported it to the government). We paid her at the end of every two weeks for what she had worked. We also gave her 40 hours of vacation her choice of time, plus, if we were going to be out of town we paid her the 20 hours we had committed to. Currently DD is in daycare. One of her teachers occaisionally sits for us and she charges 10$ an hour, but this is more of a baby sitting situation and not regular care. In your situation, I'd probably pay her for the hours she keeps the baby, but I'd consider promising her a minimum of hours per week so she can count on the income. If you can be flexible, that's going to help, but I think it works even better if you and the caregiver can agree to certain times. And I'd just ask her how she wants to be paid (every day, the end of the week, end of two weeks). And keep track of how much time she is with the baby so neither of you gets shortchanged. Around here, I'd say 10-13$ an hour is the going rate for nanny care. I don't know what the in home day care rate is. Mary |
#5
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infant care question
"cara" wrote in message ink.net... I will be going back to finish my PhD on a part time basis toward the end of the summer and by then my baby will be about 4 months old. A good friend of mine has offered to watch her while I am at work/school, and I want to pay her a fair rate for the care (she has 2 young sons and is a SAHM). I know rates vary based on geography, I am in a mid-upper cost of living part of the US. Most providers in my area charge full time rates only, in the range of about 500-700$ a month; my 4 year old goes to preschool 3x a week for a full day and we pay about 300$ a month. Basically, my hours will be variable and flexible - I expect to need her care from 15-20 hours a week, depending on the week. Should I pay her by the hour, or pay her by the week/month? For part time what would you deem to be a reasonable rate of pay? I want this arrangement to be mutually beneficial and she has said to pay her the 'lowest end of the scale', and has been vague about her monetary expectations - while that is appealing since we aren't making loads of money, I do want to pay her fair value for her services - any thoughts? Hi Cara- To answer the first question, I'd strongly recommend you pay her by the hour, rather than at a fixed rate. Anything other than a clear hourly rate risks one (or worse, *both*) of you feeling cheated. As for what to pay your provider -- I'd call around to day cares and child minders in your areas (there is a big difference in cost between family/in-home day care and formal day care centers) and figure out what the average cost is per hour. It might also be helpful to get an idea of what the going rate for sitters is in your area. Donna |
#6
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infant care question
cara wrote in message link.net...
Basically, my hours will be variable and flexible - I expect to need her care from 15-20 hours a week, depending on the week. Should I pay her by the hour, or pay her by the week/month? For part time what would you deem to be a reasonable rate of pay? I want this arrangement to be mutually beneficial and she has said to pay her the 'lowest end of the scale', and has been vague about her monetary expectations - while that is appealing since we aren't making loads of money, I do want to pay her fair value for her services - any thoughts? When we get one of the workers at our day care to baby-sit, they seem to charge a standard $10 an hour. However, your stated rate of $500 a month for full-time infant care is *much* less than I'm paying (for top-notch care, but still) so it could be that your area is less expensive. Beth |
#7
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infant care question
Nikki wrote: cara wrote: I think you'd have to call a few home providers in your area to see what they charge to really know. A couple other things to consider when using this type of ca Do you want to take your baby when her kids are sick? Is she willing to? Can she take the baby out or do you want her to be at home? Talk about taxes. Some people expect that it will be tax free money but if you claim the exemptions, she'll have to claim the income. Save yourselves some heartache by keeping a log of the payments for when you do taxes :-) This type of provider worked very well for me for quite some time. Good luck! :-) -- Nikki Mama to Hunter (5) and Luke (3) Oh wow, I really hadn't considered a lot of those questions you raised. I definitely will have to think those over. I'll call around to get a better idea of going rates, its too hard to gauge by what 'preschool' rates are and full time, etc. Thanks for the input! cara |
#8
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infant care question
"Mary W." wrote in message ...
cara wrote: Around here, I'd say 10-13$ an hour is the going rate for nanny care. I don't know what the in home day care rate is. That's a good point - are you trying to compare nanny rates or home-based day care? Is she looking to add more kids, or just yours? Since a nanny is just caring for your kid(s) you pay more because it isn't spread out over multiple kids. Around here (far north suburban Chicago), full-time home based daycare ranges from 130-150/wk. For part-time, I suspect everyone has slightly different policies. (And it's difficult to find!) My dcp will do hourly, but after 5 hours, it's a per-day rate. ($36/day, $130/wk) I'm not sure bout nanny prices, but I know one person who pays $10/hr. HTH, Irene |
#9
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infant care question
Beth Kevles wrote: Hi - I live in an expensive area. Home-care rates seem to run about $10/hour. Have you considered offering a rate that's a bit below market (and you'd have to ask around YOUR area to find what the market is) and in ADDITION offer to babysit for her kids every 2nd or 3rd Saturday, no charge? Good idea - we already do kid swaps with her once in awhile instead of hiring babysitters, so maybe we could extend that further. cara |
#10
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infant care question
"cara" wrote in message ink.net... Basically, my hours will be variable and flexible - I expect to need her care from 15-20 hours a week, depending on the week. Should I pay her by the hour, or pay her by the week/month? For part time what would you deem to be a reasonable rate of pay? I want this arrangement to be mutually beneficial and she has said to pay her the 'lowest end of the scale', and has been vague about her monetary expectations - while that is appealing since we aren't making loads of money, I do want to pay her fair value for her services - any thoughts? I have a 3 mo and a 2 yo. The dcp charges $140 per week for full time care. We need flexible p/t care about 3 days per week, though some times we don't use it at all and somtimes we use it everyday. I feel keeping the spot open for the children to come and go as we please is worth the full time pay. It also benefits the dcp, since she gets paid even when they are not there. |
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