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infant care question



 
 
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  #1  
Old May 17th 04, 07:03 PM
cara
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Default 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  
Old May 17th 04, 07:17 PM
Nikki
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Default 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  
Old May 17th 04, 07:30 PM
Beth Kevles
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Default 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  
Old May 17th 04, 07:40 PM
Mary W.
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Default 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  
Old May 17th 04, 08:48 PM
Donna
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Posts: n/a
Default 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  
Old May 17th 04, 10:09 PM
Elizabeth Reid
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Posts: n/a
Default 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  
Old May 17th 04, 10:43 PM
cara
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Posts: n/a
Default 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  
Old May 17th 04, 10:43 PM
Irene
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Posts: n/a
Default 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  
Old May 17th 04, 10:44 PM
cara
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default 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  
Old May 18th 04, 12:07 AM
toypup
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Posts: n/a
Default 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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