How much should we pay kids for yard work?

[*Robin*]

We are hiring a couple of neighborhood kids to help out with yard work. They are in 8th and 12th grade. We are having them spread around wood chips and dirt. Dig some holes and other things. We have one acre and are starting a lot of new things this year so we needed some extra help. My question is how much should we pay them? Per hour? Per job? Any ideas?

[kcstar]

I don't know how much this will help, but I had planned to offer a teenager $20 to mow my ~1/4 acre lawn at the old house. Instead, a group of adults came by and offered to do it for $40. So I countered with $30 and they agreed to that.

You can do either hourly or based on the job. Since it sounds like you may have an ongoing project with a lot of little jobs, I would probably go for an hourly rate.

[boricuaqueen327]

I was going to suggest an hourly rate too. You have a large area and they can help with the jobs you have now and maybe come back when you need help weeding and things like that.