Written by Evelyn Dunn, Staff Writer

Babysitters deserve proper pay

Stay at home moms are demanding more respect; for people to understand that it is a full time job to take care of a child. According to Goudreau at Forbes.com, their job can be broken down into ten different responsibilities, all consisting of things that require just as much attention to detail like any other job.

Gourdreau estimated that stay at home moms should be making $115,000 annually; a hefty load considering how under estimated it is. But what about babysitters that do the same duties for a lower price? They have a very important job too, shouldn’t they be just as respected?

It is a big responsibility to watch over someone else’s child, and yet babysitters have gone underpaid. According to Care.com, babysitters only made $13.44 an hour last year, and they performed all the same responsibilities as stay at home moms do.

Depending on the targeted city or town and the cost of living in each area, babysitting rates can fluctuate from $16 an hour to $8 an hour, estimating around $700 a week. According to babysitters around Valdosta, they are paid roughly $10 an hour depending on what the family can afford. Is this a fair wage? It seems slightly lacking, although it does matter how many kids there are and what duties are expected to be performed during the day.

What of professional help, do they get paid well and are highly respected? Nannies are certified and professional caregivers, so they are typically paid more for their experience. They can be live-ins, where they work full time, or live-outs; similar to a babysitters job. According to Care.com, nannies have rates that can go up to $20 an hour, and they could even be full time, which is more expensive.

So, if a stay at home full time mom deserves more respect, and nannies are paid fairly for the same work, then why shouldn’t babysitters as well?

They perform the same duties and require the same amount of skills necessary to take care of children. Absolutely all of them deserve to be paid well, because this specific job usually involves juggling five things at once.

Stay at home moms are right to demand more respect for what they do, although they are not typically paid for it, there is something rewarding about the experience.

This being said, there is no reason why babysitters should be underpaid for it as well. Yes, these are hard times economically, but they are taking care of one of the most important things in your life. Therefore, this issue needs to stop being overlooked.