I need some help navigating this: a friend on Facebook recently posted a babysitting gig for her two daughters (10 and 7) for someone to come over from 5am-7am to wake them up and the them ready for and on the bus in the morning every day they have school. She’s offering $80/week which would work out to $8/hour on an average school week. Minimum wage in that area (Southern Oregon) is $13.50/hour. Babysitters in that area make an average of $14/hour according to care(dot)com. I did a little research and it seems that babysitters can be paid federal minimum wage ($7.25/hour) even if state minimum wage is higher. So, this is legal, but I think she’s WAAAY underpaying for that job.
The implication of the post is that it’s a super easy job because it’s only for 2 hours a day on school days. My argument is, if it’s so easy to justify not paying a living wage, why can’t she do it? How would you approach a friend who you believe is severely underpaying for services without coming off as an asshole? Should I just leave it alone and let her struggle to find a babysitter? Does leaving this issue alone contribute to not holding employers accountable for paying living wages?