Mothers helper pay?

SplitPea

Sat, May 31 2014, 9:45 pm

I am looking for hire a full time high school aged mothers helper for the summer to help with my 2 kids that will be home. I am wondering what the typical pay is for this?

Do camps and private people pay differently?

harriet

Sat, May 31 2014, 10:50 pm

I assume camps pay less because they are providing room/board/entertainment/etc for their mother's helpers.

I know that if you are hiring for a lot of hours, you do not have to pay the going rate. So if the going rate is $10/hour for a teenager but she is being mother's helper for 15 hours/week, you can offer less per hour.

cs1

Sun, Jun 01 2014, 12:54 am

I pay my 7th grade mothers helper $600 for 8 weeks (from 9-4) with a $100 tip at the end of the summer.
this is in a camp setting

seeker

Sun, Jun 01 2014, 1:09 am

I was a mother's helper in a sleep-away camp one year, and the deal was that you got to go to camp at a much lower cost (don't remember how much, I was young and my parents were footing the reduced bill) and participate in activities when you weren't on the job - they made sure to arrange the hours so that mother's helpers would get to join a lot of camp activities, mothers who had really demanding full-time jobs had more than one mother's helper taking shifts, and most kids were in day camp for a chunk of the day so the mother's helpers could be campers a little more than half the day, take care of the kids in the later afternoon/evening, and then go back to the bunk for night activity.

SplitPea

Sun, Jun 01 2014, 6:47 am

When I said camps I was thinking day camps not sleep away. Yeah THAT'S a whole Different ball game. Looking for what people pay (or their children were paid) as a mothers helper in a home or day Camp setting for day camp hours.

Raisin

Sun, Jun 01 2014, 6:56 am

ime as a teenager I was paid more for being a mothers helper (ie a decent hourly rate) then for working in a camp. (not as a mothers helper - as a counselor or general helper) In a camp there is the social aspect so a teenager will have more fun. Being a mothers helper in someones house may not be as exciting. Also working in a camp may be seen as contributing to the community in some way.

allrgymama

Sun, Jun 01 2014, 7:17 am

I will be paying my mothers helper (coming out of 10th grade), $2,000 for 8 weeks, after I have my baby, I"Y"H. She will be working 4 hours a day, 4 days a week and it works out to just over $15 an hour. She is being responsible for a 5 yr old and 2 1/2 yr old, with limited responsibility for the newborn depending on how I feel.

My neighbors differ in opinion over whether I'm being generous or got 'a good deal'.

The Happy Wife

Sun, Jun 01 2014, 7:58 am

Wow, if you pay 15/hr for a mothers helper what would you pay a babysitter? That sounds like a lot.

allrgymama

Sun, Jun 01 2014, 8:23 am

I pay my babysitter (who is going to be my mothers helper this summer) $10 an hour to sit in my house when my children are sleeping. She almost never babysits when they're awake

I'm going to expect her to bathe my children, run after them outdoors, take them to the pool, feed them supper, etc. it's a lot of work, especially when I have no idea of how they're going to react to the new baby.

I really felt that (if I was being generous), it was the worth the extra bit for her to not feel taken advantage of and resentful.

seeker

Sun, Jun 01 2014, 3:04 pm

I agree with allergymama; if the mother's helper is going to be expected to do at least as much as a babysitter, why should they be paid less? Plus, it's a good way to ensure that a person you like will stay with you.

granolamom

Sun, Jun 01 2014, 9:03 pm

I hired a mothers helper the summer after my fifth baby was born. I had two older kids home (ages 6 and 8). I hired her for two days a week, 5-7 hours per day (it was kinda flexible, we both wanted it that way). her responsibilities were supposed to be either playing with/supervising the older ones outside while I was either with the baby or napping, or taking care of the baby while I was out with the older ones.
I paid her $10/hr. this was 4 years ago if that makes a difference.