A Reddit user sparked a debate about babysitting costs after arguing that parents should not have to pay more than $1,000 a month for someone to care for their children while they work. The post was shared in r/HonestHotTakes on Nov. 2 and drew 198 comments at the time of publication.
The woman began her post by saying she had nothing but respect for babysitters and wanted the best for their children. “I understand it is a difficult job and deserves good pay. However, each individual child shouldn’t cost a parent minimum wage.” She also addressed people who had entered the child care business but were not prepared to provide full-time care and backed out at the last minute.
The woman recalled an incident in which people told her that her family's requested hours, from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., were not what they were looking for. “Like, excuse me, that’s standard for full-time babysitting; you aren’t going to only have 8 hours when parents work 8+ hours and have a commute??” she wrote. She added that even though she and her husband could afford to have a child, child care costs were still out of hand for them.
“We’ve considered reducing 401k contributions and switching from PPO to high deductible health insurance just to have quality care and not have to get extra jobs with less family time, as my husband is already working more than 40 hours most weeks… Yes, babysitters should make good money, but they don’t need minimum wage or more for each child. 40-50/day per kid for 4-5 kids would be reasonable compensation, considering it’s usually people who are doing it more for supplemental income, especially out of the home.”
The woman said this was the standard rate where she lived and that reasonably priced, reliable babysitters filled up quickly. She also argued that day care centers were different, saying they charged too much while failing to pay their employees more. She concluded, “It’s so backwards in the U.S.- parents are expected to pay like mini corporations, and the daycares get away with paying very little. No one should have to pay over a thousand dollars a month to have their kid safe while they make a living to support their family.”
The woman also wrote that this was the standard rate where she lived, and many reasonably priced and reliable ones filled up quickly because of the entitled people. She said that daycares were a different story and that they would charge way too much to not pay their employees more.
She concluded, “It’s so backwards in the U.S.- parents are expected to pay like mini corporations, and the daycares get away with paying very little. No one should have to pay over a thousand dollars a month to have their kid safe while they make a living to support their family.”
A third user wrote, “You want someone to spend their entire day watching your kids and pay them 50 dollars? Time is money; they could be doing any other work for more.” A fourth user wrote, “I made twice that for three hours of work babysitting. Value your babysitter like an equal or send your kids to day care.”
The Daily Dot could not independently verify the claims made in the thread. The details reflect accounts shared by users in r/HonestHotTakes. The commenters’ identities have not been confirmed.
