Two friends got into an awkward situation about this. One of them offered to take care of her friend's 2 children, similar in age to her own kids, all under 5 years old, while their mother worked. She got paid $100 per day, being the part-time job that it was. The friend switched jobs and needed her to take care of her children full-time, but instead of maintaining that rate, she wanted to cut it in half because she couldn't afford it. Double the work for half the salary. Under any other circumstances, that would be one heck of a lawsuit and something HR can't allow. But since this wasn't in a corporate environment, there's not much that could be done. The friend insisted that she couldn't pay her the usual rate, that she was getting back on her feet, and that she had bills to pay. Newsflash, your friend, who willingly babysits your two toddlers, also has two children of her own and bills to pay. The friend was trying to get her to accept less than minimum wage for a full-time job that is also extremely demanding.
The thing here is, anyone can get through a rough patch and needs help to get back on their feet. But there's a difference between needing help and taking advantage of your friends' time and resources. Just because her friend doesn't have an office job doesn't mean that she doesn't work. Childcare and motherhood are full-time occupations, and society looks down upon them as they are. She's basically telling her friend that her time and work are less valuable than hers, that her work is not worth being paid, and the worst part is that they're both mothers. Society will never change if the work of mothers keeps being diminished. She may have financial issues as we all do, but if she can't afford to pay her friend a respectable salary, she should consider other options.