How much to pay your teenager?

Hannah, my 18 year old daughter and I have had a henna and glitter tattoo business since she was about 13 or 14. We went on sabbatical for two years. Now we are excited to do this again. We are adding the face painting and she will be doing this as well.

When she was line manager and or glitter tattoos, we either broke even or the radiator went out on the car etc. So I never actually paid her. I'd let her get something she really wanted (within reason) when we made a profit.

Now because of her medical issues, she can't really get an outside job but I want her to have the experience. I would like to pay her this go around.

So, do any of you have your kids working for you? How do you go about paying them?

We have the same set up as you did. (Basically Acts 2:44-45) If they have a major project going on (like visiting their dad overseas/bulk buy of hay/vet bills) they just tithe & pay their own expenses for their supplies. That's for my at home kids--out of the nest I work the same as anyone else...I send out extra gigs & they handle it all themselves.

I would pay them the same way anyone else would get paid. She gets her own cash box and keeps what she makes. I fully plan to have my girls involved when they are old enough if they want to and I fully believe that every face painter/twister/entertainer deserves to get the full rate paid for them to be there. No booking fees or agent fees or any of that crap.... especially if it's family.

I second what Perry said. I have some girlfriends that work with me on occasion (I provide the supplies, but they hand out MY business cards). If it's a PPF event, they keep what they make. If it's something we get paid per hour, we divide the total up as an "hourly" rate and they take their pay per hour home. For instance, if we do an event where I work the whole thing and each of my friends work half of it and we get paid 200 chickens, I take home 100 chickens (I was there the whole time after all) and they each get 50 chickens. I had to bring back the poultry reference. ;-)

I have 2 daughters (19 & 17) that work with me. Since I supply their kits & do the majority of the work I pay them $20/hr. Now, once they start doing gigs on their own I'll do a 60/40 split in their favor, but they'll need to start maintaining their kits on their own, replenish & order their own paints, etc. I'm not using this just to make them money, but hopefully to give them a business that will be flexible for when they go to college & they can take with them where ever they live. I'm also teaching them how to take gigs, do contracts, etc.

Thanks for all the responses. I find it very interesting to see how others are incorporating their children into this business. I think I'm going to have Hannah send out some emails to book some potential gigs.

Okay, I have to brag on her a bit. She is an awesome booth babe and her glitter tattoos are spectacular. Forgive any future bragging on her when I post her photos.

I pay my kids $20/hour

When we do a festival..My company gets 40% off the top....the remaining percentage gets split between my daughter and myself (30/30)...if her freind comes she gets a cut too. (20/20/20). ....they usually split the tip jar and I keep my tips.

When we work festivals it's usually just me & my oldest girl. We both face paint, do glitter tattoos & henna tattoos at these PPF events. In these cases I pay her 20% of all money earned. We combine tips because we often are painting siblings & the parents give one or the other the full tip. Then we total everything, pull the booth cost & then do an 80/20 split. Now, when I start sending her to run booths on her own I'll give her a raise. I'm trying to convince her to do a festival at the end of the month that I can't make it too.

My daughter does the glitter tattoos and I do the face painting. Even though I purchase all her supplies, she is allowed to keep what ever she makes Sometimes she has a friend to help her, but lately she prefers to do ALL the glitter tattoos herself. At gigs where they only want a face painter, but I still need her to help me set up/take down, I will pay her X amount for the day, roughly $25-40 depending on my pay.

I feel cheep! I pay $10 an hour. My daughters are 13 and 15 and I buy all the supplies. It's a good high school job...all my daughter's friends want to work for me, so I can only imagine how many of them would want to work for me if I were paying 20 an hour!

I face paint and my daughter does the glitter tattoos/glitter art/gilding. At festivals, we split the tips and she gets to keep 70% of what she makes. The other 30% goes towards restocking, booth cost, insurance, etc.
She's now being booked along with me for birthday parties. We do the same thing... she gets 70% and I get 30% for restocking, etc. She's saving up to buy a nice airbrush system so that (hopefully) next summer she can offer that along with the glitter art.
She works really hard at festivals, and doesn't slouch when it comes to unloading, setting up, etc. Never complains, no matter how hot/cold/slow/busy we are... that to me is worth its weight in gold! LOL

Dawnie, Let me know how that airbrush system works, I'm thinking about one for my daughter.

My son will be working with me this summer doing line management. I pay him $10/hour, plus buy him food/drinks

My daughter is really into doing glitter tattoos, but she's only 6. I'll probably start allowing her to help when she's older, but she thinks she's already a professional! LOL

My 12 year old has some special needs. He basically spends my tips at festivals! LOL. However, I always paint him, then for everyone who comes and says "Zack sent me", he gets $1. He loves it, and it makes him happy.

Amy Bee

So my oldest son is 11 and wants to learn to fp, so he can go with me and make a lil $$! I just learned about the glitter tattoos on here, and was thinking about leting him start with those. I like the 70/30 idea that is cool! Now I have 3 more sons 9, 7 and 5! All three know how to count $$ better then I do at times. what is a good age to bring your lil ones in to help?

I have a dream one day we'll have a family business, so why not start now!