Babysitting is temporarily caring for a child. Babysitting can be a paid job for all ages, but it is commonly known as a temporary activity for early teenagers who are not yet eligible for most other jobs, especially in North America. For young children under care, babysitting offers a chance to spend time outside their parents' direct supervision; for the sitter, it's a way to earn extra money and earn experience in looking after kids. Babysitting became a recognized teen activity in the 1920s and gained significant traction in suburban America during the 1950s and 1960s, as the post-war Baby Boom created large numbers of young children in sprawling suburbs where extended family was unavailable for childcare. It prompted the appearance of urban legends, pulp novels, and horror films.
Contents
Overall
In developed countries, babysitters are often high-school or college students. Some adults offer childcare services working from home — they function more like professional childcare providers or educators than babysitters. Babysitting jobs can include anything from keeping a sleeping child safe, changing diapers, and playing games, to preparing meals, teaching the child to read or even drive, depending on what the parents and the sitter agree on.
In many countries, organizations offer babysitter training, especially in child safety and first aid for infants and younger children. These educational programs are often provided at local hospitals and schools. Babies and toddlers have different needs. It is helpful for babysitters to understand toddler developmental milestones to plan for necessary activities. Potential babysitters are often required to disclose criminal records to screen for prior convictions, particularly for offenses involving children.
Babysitting and gender
History
Despite women gaining the right to vote with the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment, traditional gender roles persisted, particularly concerning motherhood and domestic duties. Women's main duties included housekeeping, meal preparation, and caring for children. However, by 1920, women were about 20% of the overall workforce, raising concerns about women's independence.
Although modern household appliances were marketed as time-saving, rising cleanliness standards meant that mothers spent more time on household chores. While family size decreased, meaning women bore less children, they also dedicated more time to child-rearing, following advice from psychologists like John B. Watson and Arnold Gesell.
Leisure activities gained cultural importance and children enjoyed an abundance of toys and games, but mothers were criticized for sidestepping maternal duties if they also pursued leisure activities.
Historically, girls from diverse backgrounds had been responsible for childcare duties, but roles of "Little Mothers" and "baby tenders" have disappeared due to societal changes. Within evolving notions of childhood and girlhood, adolescent girls were seen as ill-equipped to care for younger children.
In the 1920s, middle-class girls did not rely on babysitting for extra income because they received allowances from parents. Only a small percentage of high-school girls earned their own spending money independently. However, sociologist Ernest R. Groves warned against hiring high-school girls as babysitters, fearing their immaturity and lack of responsibility.
Babysitting became more common during the Great Depression partly due to families' financial constraints, which limited teenagers' allowances and job opportunities. Many teenage girls became "mother's helpers" or "neighborhood helpers." The rise of youth culture, fostered by increasing high-school attendance and consumerism, also played a role.
However, the growing visibility of teenage girls as babysitters also raised concerns among adults. Some adults disapproved of teenage girls spending their earnings, including purchasing makeup. Babysitters were also criticized for chatting on the phone while working.
Babysitting and race
History
Before the Civil War, enslaved Black women cared for the children of white women, even feeding babies using their own breast milk. In 1863, after the Emancipation Proclamation, African American women began to dominate the domestic workforce due to limited employment opportunities and segregation. These women worked long hours for little pay, often receiving hand-me-downs instead. By 1870, over half of employed women were engaged in "domestic and personal service," reflecting the significant presence of African American women in this sector.
In 1901, a group of domestic workers formed the Working Women's Association in response to mistreatment. However, the association disbanded because of low membership. By the 1930s, domestic workers in Chicago faced issues such as employers offering work to the lowest bidder at designated locations known as "slave pens".
In 1934, Dora Lee Jones established the Domestic Workers Union, advocating for wage and hour laws and inclusion in the Social Security Act. However, in 1935, domestic workers were explicitly excluded from the National Labor Relations Act, which protects employees' rights to form unions. The Fair Labor Standards Act passed in 1938, introduced minimum wage and overtime pay, but domestic workers were excluded.
In 1964, the Civil Rights Act prohibited employment discrimination, but most domestic workers were not covered as it applied only to employers with 15 or more employees. Similarly, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 protected older workers but excluded many domestic workers. Amendments to the Fair Labor Standards Act in 1974 provided protections like minimum wage and overtime pay, but those caring for the elderly or children were again excluded.
Currently, 20% of childcare workers are Black women.
The "mammy" stereotype
During the post-Civil War era and the Jim Crow period, the mammy stereotype surfaced as one of the most pervasive and enduring images of Black domestic workers. Portrayed prominently in popular culture, such as in 1939's "Gone with the Wind", the mammy caricature depicted Black women in domestic servitude roles. They were typically portrayed as kind-hearted, overweight, and outspoken. This stereotype romanticized the Antebellum South and ignored the actual experiences of Black women and domestic workers.
Laws in the United States
In 2007, the Supreme Court case Long Island Care at Home Ltd. v. Coke highlighted the lack of overtime pay entitlement for domestic worker Evelyn Coke, despite her extensive hours of labor. This case underscored the challenges faced by domestic workers regarding fair compensation.
Also in 2007, the National Domestic Workers Alliance (NDWA) became a leading advocate for domestic workers' rights, aiming to establish a domestic workers' bill of rights. This began in New York State and resulted in the signing of the New York Domestic Workers Bill of Rights into law in 2010.
In 2011, the International Labor Organization established Fair Labor Laws to protect domestic workers globally, although the United States has not ratified this convention. Local initiatives emerged to address these issues such as in 2014 when Chicago implemented its first minimum wage ordinance, explicitly including domestic workers.
In 2016, Illinois passed the Domestic Worker Bill of Rights following a five-year campaign by the Illinois Domestic Workers Coalition. Additionally, Cook County passed a minimum wage law covering domestic workers.
By 2019, nine states had enacted legislation granting labor rights to domestic workers. On July 15, 2019, U.S. Senator Kamala D. Harris and U.S. Representative Pramila Jayapal introduced the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights at the federal level. This bill aims to ensure the rights and protections of domestic workers nationwide, but it has not yet passed into law.
Cost
United States
According to the caregiver-finding platform UrbanSitter, the national average babysitting cost in 2022 was $22.68 an hour for one child, $25.37 an hour for two, and $27.70 an hour for three children. This rate has increased by 21 percent since 2019.
Etymology
The noun "baby sitter" appeared in print in 1937, and the verb "baby-sit" was first noted in 1947. The American Heritage College Dictionary notes, "One normally would expect the agent noun babysitter with its -er suffix to come from the verb baby-sit, as diver comes from dive, but in fact babysitter is first recorded in 1937, ten years earlier than the first appearance of baby-sit. Thus the verb was derived from the agent noun rather than the other way around and represented a good example of back-formation. The use of the word "sit" to refer to a person tending to a child is recorded from 1800. The term may have originated from the caretaker "sitting on" the baby in one room while the parents were entertaining or busy in another. It is also theorized that the term may come from hens "sitting" on their eggs, thus "caring for" their chicks.
International variations in definition
In British English, the term refers only to caring for a child for a few hours, on an informal basis, and usually in the evening when the child is asleep for most of the time.
In American English, the term can include caring for a child for all or most of the day and on a regular or more formal basis, which would be described as childminding in British English.
In India and Pakistan, a babysitter or nanny, known as an ayah or aya, is hired on a longer-term contract basis to look after a child regardless of the presence of the parents.
