How much would you pay him?

Checkatrade has the going rate at £20 an hour, how long is it taking him?

About an hour - it is not a big lawn (well grass and weeds really!).

I was thinking £10.

I agree that £5 an hour is possibly exploitative, but a lot depends on what you can afford, and what he is happy to accept. He won't be paying rent or food bills at his age.

If £20 an hour is too much, is there anything you could offer to do for him on top of the fiver? Bake a cake, or knit him a hat? Teach him a skill of some kind?

I like the idea of local barter instead of some jobs attracting higher rates than others, but at the same time, 12 year olds often want cold hard cash, and they don't have many opportunities to earn it.

I've been paying £15 and it's a small lawn. Took only about 8 minutes to cut and strim.

Hello Luckygirl, how lovely to see you here. I’ve had a little break so have missed your news. I’m assuming your house purchase went well and you’re settling nicely in to your new home.
Are you near to your friends or are you further up the road?
Sounds as though you are getting well organised. I imagine your young gardener is glad of the work and the experience. He obviously doesn’t have to worry about a tax return so I wouldn’t be too hasty to increase his pay. Wait and see if he continues to be consistently good and consistently punctual and then offer him a pay rise on that basis. £5 does seem low but if he takes four times longer than an adult at £20 it’s the same.

£4.62 is the minimum wage for a 16 year old - how can anyone be worth as little as this? I would have thought £10

I always gave my grandson a tenner when he did any jobs for me whether they lasted an hour or 20 mins because I felt it was the willingness to give up his time to help me
So I d say a tenner is a good going rate at 12 years old and £20 an hour is way too much, blimey he’ll have a real shock when he lands a real job at minimum wage or apprentice wage

LauraNorder .......thank you for your greetings. I am indeed settled in my new home, surrounded by friends and able to walk in beautiful places each day. But I am in fact renting it at present as I am waiting for the sale to go through.

I think I will plump for £10 - it seems fair to me. He bashes on and is not taking any longer than an adult.

Agree £10, I’d pay that. Is he available to travel ??

I would give him £5 as he asked for,and a lovely christmas bonus.
He will then keep doing a grand job.

Assuming he's not from a very poor family and supplementing their income, I would pay the £5 and every now and then give him a £5 bonus.

He sounds a real star, Luckygirl, and should be encouraged. £10 for cutting and edging a smallish lawn sounds right, the correct money is easy to hand over, and occasional cake or biscuit treat never goes amiss at the hollow legs stage. Well done you for finding him.

We paid about £15 ph to a 14 year old neighbour for pressure washing work, a messy job..
I think £10 ph seems fair enough for a 12 year old for lawn cutting, though.

I agree, £10 for the complete work, plus refreshments of course! Then if when he does your hedges as well, you could give him a bonus if he does a really good job or if it takes a long time.

I would give him £10 for the grass and a bit extra when he does the hedge too. It will be good to show him that you appreciate him, boost his confidence and keep him coming back. I think I would soon lose interest if all I was getting was a fiver, it doesn't buy much.

I would give £10. It is quite hard work. Also as suggested give a drink and snack as well. Good for him.

I disagree, it has to be worth £20 for the lawn mowing session. I have a grandson of a similar age and I would be appalled if he got short changed for doing a job to help someone as well as earn some pocket money.

You need to look at the long term too; if you want this youngster to come back and do the lawn on future occasions then treat him fairly from the outset.

I would treat him as an adult if the work is up to scratch - £10 an hour minimum.

If Checkatrade is suggesting £20 an hour for a gardener, you have to assume that that includes tax and NI, as well as insurance and possibly transport.

It is not the same as paying a schoolboy, who will have none of those offtakes. If we say that in circumstances like this children should be paid at the same rate as adults, it will not only price them out of the market for a lot of pensioners, but also deny them a chance to make some pocket money.

I am not suggesting that the boy should be exploited, and I do feel that £5 is too little. I also have no idea about the OP's financial circumstances, but for someone on a state pension, £20 a week (or however often the lawn needs trimming) would be a significant cost, and I think that a more reasonable rate that would benefit both parties is a more sensible way to go.

We pay our gardener £15 per hour, he does the lawns, pruning, planting, weeding, whatever we want really, building walls, mending fence posts.
I think this is an absolute bargain, if you’re getting good service, which it seems you are, I’d pay him £10.

I think £5 is too little , just because he’s only 12 If he’s doing a good job he should be paid more. I had a gardener once a month on a previous property to mow the lawn I paid him £15 but he did such a good job ( taking away grass etc) I always gave him £20.

It also depends on local rates I think but I paid this in S Wales which is not expensive

I posted £10 ph which some posters too as £10 in total.

I did say £10 ph - per hour.

If it takes less than an hour I would still pay him £10.

If my son was being paid by the hour, you can guarantee the job would take at least two hours - he was a crafty one! Seriously, I’m not sure a young child is as strong as an adult even when using a lawnmower so it might be best agreeing a fixed price. It takes the man who mows my lawns about 15 minutes to do quite a large mower, including trimming the edges.