A mother of 4 named Kourtnie Woods, who states in her TikTok bio that she makes use of the platform for “rants, mother stuff, and no matter else,” lately posted a video during which she questioned the amount of cash she was anticipated to pay for one-on-one childcare.
The mother confronted backlash after asking why babysitters cost $100 for a full day, claiming, ‘It ought to solely be $50 for 8 hours.’
“Since when are babysitters charging $100 a day?” Woods requested. “One child, 8 hours a day for $100.”
“And don’t get me began on the entire, ‘You need to pay your childcare staff extra since you’re trusting them along with your youngsters.’ I pay my daycare lots. [I’m] speaking a couple of back-up sitter for after I want one,” she stated in her TikTok video.
“Perhaps [it’s] a comfort factor, I don’t know,” Woods continued. “However the place I’m from, you pay $50 and that’s, like, on the excessive finish. Boy, let me inform you, I’m about to stop and turn out to be a babysitter.”
Woods’ declare that paying a babysitter $100 a day is an unreasonably excessive quantity reveals that she doesn’t fairly perceive the present financial system.
Based on the US Division of Labor, federal minimal wage has been set at $7.25 an hour since 2009. Based on Woods’ accounting methods, paying somebody $100 for 8 hours of labor comes out to $12.50 an hour. Paying an individual $50 for 8 hours of labor comes out to $6.25 an hour. Woods apparently believes that babysitters must be paid a greenback lower than minimal wage.
Photograph: William Fortunato / Pexels
Folks within the feedback part of Woods’ put up have been fast to level out how low her estimation of childcare wages truly was.
“I’ve by no means gotten paid lower than $20 an hour,” one particular person stated. “I include {qualifications} and expertise.” Another person requested Woods, “Is the query, ‘since when do I’ve to pay pretty for a service?’ As a result of the reply is, ideally all the time.”
Woods got here again to TikTok to supply an evidence that tried to justify her considering in her authentic put up. In her follow-up video, she responded to a remark from somebody who clarified how a lot non-public childcare prices.
Ava Chinnock replied to Woods’ authentic video, stating, “I cost $15-$20 an hour! Sometimes, daycares are so much cheaper however nannies and babysitters are costlier.”
Woods stated, “First, I need to say thanks for responding in a really respectful method. And second, I simply need to say, that is the mix-up right here, as a result of I’ve all the time thought that daycares have been the privilege, and extra folks use in-home babysitters they usually have been a less expensive strategy to go. To my understanding, that’s what it’s all the time been. I assumed that daycares have been the privilege as a result of not lots of people get to make use of daycares.”
“I had it backwards,” she acknowledged. “That’s it. My apologies. No offense to anyone that babysits or nannies. I didn’t imply to offend you guys.”
Photograph: MART PRODUCTION / Pexels
Woods’ preliminary assertion made the declare that babysitters solely should make $50 an hour for a full day of inauspicious work. It’s potential that her misguided perception stems from an precise lack of knowledge.
But for her to declare that perception on a public platform showcases that she’s basically devaluing the labor and dedication concerned in offering childcare.
It’s a well-established indisputable fact that childcare prices in the USA are astronomically excessive and that many households battle to afford care for his or her youngsters. For a mum or dad to make use of their on-line platform to brazenly acknowledge how arduous it’s to lift youngsters, whereas concurrently expressing outrage at paying a good wage for child-rearing labor, is a really explicit sort of out-of-touch habits.
Alexandra Blogier is a author on YourTango’s information and leisure workforce. She covers parenting points, popular culture evaluation and all issues to do with the leisure trade.
