It's just for one day, all meals are paid for- he doesn't have to buy anything. He will just be bringing dirt from the front to the back of the house.
He is my neighbor and wanted to help my husband.
What is a good amount to pay him for today???

fifty dollors is generous,if you dont want to give that much twenty five

$ 10 bucks an hour is okay..... but in my district the big kids get paid about $ 15 bucks if it's heavy labor an hour.
up to you, if you want to hire him again, pay him low price an hour and then give him a bonus if your happy with his work.
make sure he knows that is a bonus gift

$9hr sounds fair

$50 dollars for 8 hrs of work is a good price. i mean that's like 6.00 an hour with no taxes taken out. It all depends where your from and the cost of living. I'm in Texas and most kids would be grateful for $50 dollars

$60 don't pay him much more than he'd make at a regular job for that time. it will just set him up for unrealistic goals when he goes out into the workforce or even start him off with a pattern of spending more money than he can be able to make for himself. that's the age kids learn to value having money.....

It depends on a few things. Where do you live and what's the cost of living? The answer is probably different for Mississippi than it is for Southern California where I live.

At a minimum, I'd start with the minimum wage rate in your area, then subtract something like 5-10% to account for the taxes he won't be paying because you're giving him cash. Multiply that rate by the 8 hours he'll be working. So, for California which has a $7.50 minimum tax rate, I'd set a minimum hourly rate to be somewhere in the $6.75 - 7.15 range, then multiply that by 8 hours and round off to the nearest $5 (probably $55 - $60). I'd then add on from there depending on how well hard he worked, etc.

Since he's 16, and to be fair, his getting anything is quite nice. I would give him an amount that I could afford several times over and over if he were to do more work for me later.

If he is moving dirt for 8 hours all day long, I'd give him $50. Seeing two twenties and a ten for a kid is like enough money to buy the world. On the other hand, if he is taking frequent breaks and not working on the dirt until your husband asks him to, I'd give him $40.

Nothing less than $40 though.

Ever think he may be just a great kid wanting to help out a neighbor? If you think he may be doing it because he need the money then by all means throw him $50 or so. Then again if he just wants to help out then maybe a couple of tickets to the movies with a thank you note.

$50 sounds good.