How much would you pay him?

He sounds a lovely boy and worth more than £5, £10 would be suitable I am sure,and as other have said a bonus every now and then, and of course refreshments after he finishes cutting the lawn.Encourage him he is worth keeping.

I think £10 an hour is reasonable. A professional gardener would charge you much more

i know it sounds really mean but be careful as he is only 12 and there maybe issues about paying him a lot as then classed as employment .(https://www.gov.uk/child-employment/paying) if that is the case then he is probably due holiday pay too. So pay him what he has asked for and then give him a "bonus" when he finishes at the end of the summer . make sure your lawnmower is safe as there is could be liability issues . I think children should be encouraged to work ( i had a part time job at 12 but even then it was on the edge of any legal issues) but just be careful - for both your sakes

It seems as though some posters are making a case for children to be paid at the same rate or even considerably more than an adult. If this is the case then what would the justification be? My mind is boggled by a child earning more per hour than his/her parent.

If he`s doing a good job then I would pay him a tenner, he`ll be thrilled to bits.

Lucky girl,... I'd double it to £10 or £12.00 per hour. A twelve year should be encouraged to earn a living and if he's willing to take on the responsibility he deserves better pay to encourage his hard work. If he doesn't charge much he could lose interest or become disheartened when he's working hard, especially in hot /cold wet weather conditions. He might realise its not worth his while. he needs incentive via reward, good luck to him. If people want it doing they'll pay a decent going rate, there's always someone who'll try to take advantage of a youngster who's afraid to argue back. If someone's paying him a decent wage, he'll be less inclined to be taken for granted.
after all a small 12 year old would find it a lot harder than a mature tall male. He deserves to be rewarded for his courage. I hope things work out well for him. Respect ?

25Avalon.. I didn't think of all the health / safety & law issues regarding hiring a twelve year old, I stand corrected. However , If the OP pursued and employed the youngster. I do think £5 is a bit mean for the work involved . I would still double it .

grannyactivist

It seems as though some posters are making a case for children to be paid at the same rate or even considerably more than an adult. If this is the case then what would the justification be? My mind is boggled by a child earning more per hour than his/her parent.

I think what has to be borne in mind is the type of job too. Rates per hour vary according to the work.
Our lawn man probably takes an hour and a half, charges £30 for an excellent job but brings all his own equipment.

One small lawn may only take half an hour therefore the charge would technically be £5.

I think gardeners in our area would charge at least £20 per hour.

I have paid him £10. He does a good job and uses his own mower. The end result of his work is no different from an adult - he did all the edging very nicely.

In fact I think he might be 13. I will ask his Mum.

It is a way of getting him out of bed and out of his sad mood at present. I make sure I praise him for good work done.

My GS is watering the garden for us when we are (hopefully) away.

We have agreed £10 ph plus £3 travel expenses.

We wouldn’t want him to be out of pocket as a result of doing us a huge favour.

I still think £5 is miserly . But that's me ,I hate to feel someone's been ripped off, regardless of age or status. just because £5s the going rate it doesn't make it right in my eyes . When someone's said that to me and are only allowed to take a small going rate , I,ll tip them generously if I can afford it. My conscience wouldn't allow me not to
But again, that's just me . Maybe it was because my mums a skinflint and some times I find it embarrassing. She'd do anything not to pay if she could get away with it . And I often thought how mean she was , even though money wasn,t an issue. I swore I'd never do that to anyone.

you are doing a good thing OP,
and so is he with the work.
why would people be so mean as to say pay only £5.
i bet those could afford to pay more. a very poor attitude.

Yorki

25Avalon.. I didn't think of all the health / safety & law issues regarding hiring a twelve year old, I stand corrected. However , If the OP pursued and employed the youngster. I do think £5 is a bit mean for the work involved . I would still double it .

It is against the law to employ anyone under the age of 13. Once he is 13 then a different matter. Whilst gardeners might charge £20 an hour, grounds men who cut grass and trim edges normally get £9-10 per hour.

I would give him £10 an hour

this is not a full time or even a part time job.
it is not appropriate to compare it to that.
the boy does not have to do the work at all.
he is being helpful and doing the work well.
OP is happy to pay £10, and everyone benefits.

Check he is wearing suitable footwear Luckygirl - local boy nearly lost his toes as a teenage boy doing people's lawns.

I paid my gardener £15 to do my lawn, took him about 12 minutes.

I wouldn’t leave my child do it for £5 as you say if it’s done properly I would give him £15

We pay £15-£20 an hour to an adult so I'd say £10 is fair for a boy.

One thing....*what happens if he slices his hand off*....is anyone insured? His parents might hold you responsible.

Please send him to me, would certainly show up my husbands lack of enthusiasm for mowing.

We have a lovely young man mow our lawn regularly in Summer. He's a neighbour's son and I've known him all his life. It's a long lawn and we give him £10 which he never wants to take but we insist!

I just checked with a neighbour & she pays £15. It is quite a large lawn.
I do my own as I am quite capable & I actually enjoy doing it.
We have 2 ponds so not a huge lawn.

I think £5 is a bit mean give him £10 and you will keep him and get your garden done regularly.

I am currently supporting a young homeless man who, before COVID and lockdowns, worked as a groundsman on minimum wage. Unfortunately there are plenty of gardeners already in the town (charging £14 an hour and using their own tools) so he was unable to pick up any work locally.

I’m now thinking of putting him in shorts and telling the neighbours he’s my teenage grandson looking for lawn mowing jobs. ??

Lucky girl how kind you are employing this young lad,I am sure he looks forward to getting out and as we know being outdoors with nature does help our mental health.
I think perhaps I should employ someone to do mine ,last week ( I have been mowing my lawn regularly for almost 40 year s)I cut through the lead in my mower !!luckily I didn't go up in a puff of smoke but I was annoyed with my self for not paying attention to where I had placed the lead.