Average pay jumps for babysitters

Parents with young children – you probably have noticed this. After school child care and date night babysitters are getting more expensive.

Average pay for a babysitter jumped 11% last year.

The jump means babysitting wages are outpacing inflation, which rose 7% in December compared with the prior year.

The national average rate for child care is just over $20 an hour for one child, and closer to $25 an hour for two kids.

New York City has the highest rate, followed by the San Francisco area. That’s great news for babysitters, but it adds up to higher costs for families already struggling with inflation.

"The people who are serving in these care provider roles, they traditionally have been underpaid, and a lot of times the work that they’ve done has gone unseen," said Lynn Perkins, UrbanSitter CEO. "Where I think we have a disconnect is that we’re hitting a spot where families can’t afford this care, and it’s my hope – I’m very optimistic – that we’ll start to see more subsidies come into play over the next few years."

It’s not only babysitting. Pet-care rates are up, too.

To hire a pet sitter, it’s more than $16 an hour, and over $18 for someone else to walk your dog.