Should You Tip The Babysitter?

I know from my own experience as a parent with young children that the costs of a night out plus paying the sitter can sometimes make even the briefest outing… out of financial reach. So i’m not surprised when parents ask questions relating to compensation for the occasional babysitter. What is the going hourly rate? Should one tip? What about providing meals and snacks? Should you provide access to Netflix, etc.?

As it turns out, I was just in the position of hiring a babysitter for my granddaughter, so I had recently pondered some of these same queries myself.

It appears that compensation varies from community to community, and you can get a good idea about the going hourly rate by asking around. Best practice is to inquire directly with the sitter about rates before booking. Rounding up to the nearest hour seems to be a common practice, whereas tipping is not. In our case, we knew that the sitter had traveled at least 45 minutes on the NYC subway in each direction, so we factored her nearly two hours of travel time into her compensation.

Of course, if a sitter pitches in to do a major clean-up or takes on some other household task, or if they are called upon to stay much longer than initially planned, they deserve additional compensation beyond their hourly wage.

I can't stand the idea of not sharing food - when it seems that I always have way more than I need - so I usually encourage sitters to help themselves. However, that is an individual thing and may depend on the hours that the sitter is in your home. For example, a caregiver who is there from four until ten should be provided with dinner.

As someone who started babysitting as soon as I hit the double digits, age-wise, I have a great appreciation for the profession. As such, when it comes to Netflix access or any other perks, I apply the Golden Rule, and do unto others....