“I have a lot of nieces and nephews. I was always around kids. I was like the family babysitter because I was the only one that wasn’t married.”

Doreen Cronin, Writer

Pros and Cons of Working as a Babysitter

You want to earn money as a babysitter?

While working as a babysitter has indeed some advantages, there are also many downsides related to this job.

Thus, make sure to check out all the pros and cons of being a babysitter in this article.

Babysitter Job Profile

Advantages of Being a Babysitter

1. You can work with children of different ages
2. Babysitting as a nice side hustle
3. Working as a babysitter is rather relaxed
4. You can learn a lot for dealing with your own children
5. Babysitters can work indoors
6. You don’t need any special educational requirements
7. You can make a positive impact on children’s lives
8. It can be nice to see progress
9. Being a babysitter can give you meaning in life
10. You may be able to start your own babysitting business
11. You don’t have to work in an office job
12. Babysitters can work rather independently
13. No time pressure
14. You can do your family or friends a favor

You can work with children of different ages

One important advantage of being a babysitter is that you can work with children of different ages.

This can be quite interesting since you will see children at various different stages in their lives and will also see how they develop over time.

It can also be quite helpful since you can draw conclusions from previous educational measures and apply things that worked out in the past for the younger generation.

Since you can work with many different children, chances are that you will never get bored and that you are also able to build a relatively deep connection with those kids.

In turn, you will become a really important person for them who can just make their lives much better if you are kind and have the patience to deal with their moods.

Babysitting as a nice side hustle

Many babysitters also don’t work full-time.

In fact, many students earn some money from babysitting to finance their studies and also some pensioners want to make some additional money out of it since their pension is simply too low to survive and they also need some motivation in life to keep going.

As you can see, you don’t have to necessarily work full-time as a babysitter.

In many cases, you will just work in the evenings or some hours during the day and this can be perfect for people who have many other things going on in their lives and just want to make some additional money to afford some luxury or to start an own business in the future.

Working as a babysitter is rather relaxed

Most babysitters also don’t complain about excessive stress at work.

Yes, children and babies can be difficult from time to time, yet there is just not the same level of stress compared to working as an investment banker or many other jobs you could work in.

Most of the time, you will just play some games or watch a movie.

You can also read a book together or listen to an audio-book.

Due to all those possibilities, you will usually not have a hard time as a babysitter and will be able to relax a little bit from your stressful other tasks that might wait for you in your daily life.

You can learn a lot for dealing with your own children

Another upside to working as a babysitter is that you will also be able to transfer plenty of knowledge you required from your job as a babysitter to your own private life.

In fact, since you can take care of many different children as a babysitter, you will also quickly be able to figure out what measures work to keep them under control and which just don’t work out at all.

Hence, you will also be able to avoid many mistakes you would have made for raising your own children by applying the knowledge and experience you got from your job as a babysitter.

Babysitters can work indoors

As a babysitter, you also don’t have to work under extreme conditions like heavy rain, snow or extreme heat outdoors.

While many people take it for granted to work indoors, it is a luxury that humanity made possible just a few decades ago.

In former times, most work had been carried out outdoors and there are still many people who have to work outdoors under those extreme conditions in our current state of the world.

By working as a babysitter, you will be able to work in a rather cozy and protected environment and can avoid those adverse working conditions.

You don’t need any special educational requirements

Babysitters also don’t need any fancy education.

In fact, it will be enough to be a likable and trustworthy person and you can start to work in this field in most states.

It is just quite important for parents to know that their children are safe with you and it doesn’t matter that much whether you have a college degree or other educational achievements or not.

Thus, basically everyone can get into babysitting as long as he or she is a reliable person and has some good references.

Consequently, if you want to become a babysitter, make sure that you babysit the children of family and friends so that you can get your first good references and have higher chances to get additional jobs in the future.

You can make a positive impact on children’s lives

Another benefit of becoming a babysitter is that you can also make a positive impact on the lives of children.

Since you will often take care of them, they will soon build a strong connection with you.

In turn, they will also listen to you and will consider your word as really important.

This also means that you can teach them important values like kindness, empathy and many other things that are crucial for our society to work out in the long run.

Therefore, being a babysitter is just more than sitting around and waiting until your shift is over.

It is a real educational opportunity and you can really make a difference in the lives of many kids.

It can be nice to see progress

Working as a babysitter can also be pretty nice since you will see progress rather quickly.

In fact, children learn fast and if you put in the work and show them things, they will adopt skills in a surprisingly fast manner.

Thus, babysitting can also be a great job for you if you love to see progress and if you want to teach the next generation important things for their future.

Being a babysitter can give you meaning in life

For many people, working as a babysitter is more than just a job.

It is kind of a passion and can also give them meaning in life.

Many people in our current state of the world just work in office jobs to make good money, not for the pleasure that comes along with it.

In fact, many people are quite unhappy with their jobs and become increasingly frustrated over time.

In turn, you may be much happier as a babysitter since you can find true meaning in what you are doing, even though you might make far less money than other people.

You may be able to start your own babysitting business

Babysitting can not only be a side hustle or a part-time job.

If you are smart and passionate enough to start your own babysitting business, you can employ many babysitters and can easily make a full-time income from your business.

In fact, starting your own babysitting business is perfect since you can really scale and you may even employ dozens or even hundreds of babysitters in the long run.

As you can see, you don’t necessarily have to do the actual work as a babysitter.

If you are an entrepreneurial type of person, you could also just build the framework for other babysitters who can work for you and you can still get a fair share of their income.

You don’t have to work in an office job

Being a babysitter also enables you to avoid working in a classical office job.

In fact, many people just don’t want to work in office jobs at all since offices are rather artificial environments and the lack of exercise combined with staring at a computer screen all day long really makes this kind of work exhausting and unsatisfying in the long run.

By working as a babysitter, you can do plenty of different things during your shift and don’t have to use a computer at all.

Babysitters can work rather independently

As a babysitter, you will also have no boss watching you all day long like in many other jobs.

Instead, you can work rather independently since you will often be the only one in the house who is watching the kid.

This also means that you will have a high level of freedom regarding what you want to play with the kid and also don’t have to fear to get criticized on a regular basis.

Thus, working as a babysitter can also be great for you if you want to set the agenda and don’t want to get commands like in many other jobs out there.

No time pressure

You will also have a pretty relaxed life as a babysitter since you will simply have no time pressure at all during work.

You will just play with the kids or do some other stuff.

Yet, you will have no strict timelines and also no appointments with clients for which you have to prepare presentations or other things in time.

Thus, working as a babysitter can also be nice for you if you don’t like time pressure and just want to enjoy your time at work.

You can do your family or friends a favor

By working as a babysitter, you can support your family and friends.

In fact, almost everyone of us who has children needs a babysitter sooner or later and your loved ones will be really thankful for your support in this regard.

They will also really trust you since they know that you have already some experience in this field and will often be quite happy to choose you above a stranger to take care of their kids.

After showing you all the upsides of becoming a babysitter, I also have to show you the downsides so that you can make a much more profound decision regarding your future career choice.

Thus, the most common problems with being a babysitter are discussed in the following.

Disadvantages of Being a Babysitter

1. Most babysitters don’t make a full-time income
2. Many babysitters need a second or even third job
3. Children can be difficult
4. You will have to be spontaneous
5. You may be belittled by society
6. Many babysitters get bored after a while
7. Rather low job security
8. It’s time to say goodbye sooner or later
9. You will also have to deal with unpleasant issues
10. Insurance problems might occur
11. Old-age poverty can be a problem for babysitters

Most babysitters don’t make a full-time income

One disadvantage of being a babysitter is that you will just not be able to make a full-time income most of the time.

Sure, there might be rich people out there who pay you a nice wage so that you only have to work part-time but can still make a living out of your babysitting career.

Yet, this is rather the exception than the rule and you should be aware of the fact that you will just not be able to survive from your salary as a babysitter in the long run.

Many babysitters need a second or even third job

In fact, many babysitters only do this job as a side hustle and still have second or even third jobs to make a living and to pay all of their bills while judges and many other people can live off their main jobs easily.

Especially if you live in regions where costs of living are pretty high, you will not be able to afford any luxury at all by working as a babysitter.

Chances are that you will not even be able to afford rent and basic expenses and that you will have to work in different jobs later in your life.

Sure, working as a babysitter can be great for certain groups of people like students or retirees, yet it is just not suitable to make a consistent income from which people can really cover their expenses.

Consequently, make sure that you have additional plans for your time after your babysitting career so that you don’t suffer from serious financial trouble later on in your life.

Children can be difficult

While working with children can be quite rewarding since you can find true meaning in what you are doing, it can sometimes also be quite difficult, especially when children have bad days and cannot be motivated for anything productive.

Therefore, being a babysitter is also not always as rewarding as you might think and that it can also be annoying from time to time.

You will have to be spontaneous

If you want to work as a babysitter, you also have to be rather spontaneous since many parents just decide pretty spontaneously whether they need a babysitter for the night or not.

Thus, if they call you, you may have to change your own plans for the evening and work instead of meeting up with friends.

Hence, becoming a babysitter may also not be for you if you are the type of person who needs a fixed schedule and doesn’t like to change plans at all.

You may be belittled by society

Even though babysitters do an important job to relieve parents from their stressful daily lives from time to time, they are still not appreciated that much in society.

Sure, people will thank you for what you are doing for them. However, you will still not have a high social standing at all.

In fact, you will often be belittled for what you are doing while doctors and firemen save lives and get all the appreciation and attention.

Many babysitters get bored after a while

Another downside to being a babysitter is that you may simply get bored sooner or later.

Sure, in the beginning, everything seems to be exciting and you might really enjoy what you are doing.

Yet, after a certain period of time, you will just develop a standard routine and what seemed to be exciting will not be that interesting anymore.

Hence, as with many other jobs, you might lose your motivation quite quickly and you should therefore make sure to have backup plans in place for a career afterward.

Rather low job security

As a babysitter, you will also not have that much job security.

While babysitters will always be needed, they are also pretty replaceable.

Due to the low barriers to entry and a lack of qualifications babysitters must have, almost everyone can do the job and this also means that there will be plenty of competition in this field.

In turn, you may just get fired sooner or later if someone appears who can do the job as good as you but offers it for a cheaper price.

Hence, becoming a babysitter can also be a rather bad choice regarding current and also future job prospects.

It’s time to say goodbye sooner or later

Since you will spend plenty of time with the kids of your clients, you will soon develop a strong emotional connection with them.

While this can be nice and can give you the motivation to carry on with your job, it can also be problematic once you have to quit.

Not only you will often be quite sad, also the child will often not understand why you have to go and will often just not be willing to accept it.

This can be emotionally challenging and you should really make sure that you are emotionally strong enough to deal with those issues before deciding for a career as a babysitter.

You will also have to deal with unpleasant issues

While your tasks as a babysitter can be pretty nice most of the time, working as a babysitter also implies some unpleasant tasks you have to take care of.

For instance, you might have to clean the bathroom or you might have to deal with children who are in a bad mood.

As you can see, it’s just not all upside and you should be aware that babysitting is just not always fun and that you sometimes wish you worked in a different field.

Insurance problems might occur

As a babysitter, you may also get in lots of trouble regarding insurance issues.

If you work as a private babysitter, you will be responsible for the life and the well-being of the kid.

If you make mistakes and those mistakes lead to fatal outcomes, you will be the one who will be liable for all those issues.

Hence, make sure that you also get proper insurance if you want to work as a babysitter so that you are covered in case of emergency.

Old-age poverty can be a problem for babysitters

Since babysitters don’t make that much money and often only work part-time, many of them also experience serious problems regarding old-age poverty.

Many babysitters are simply not able to save enough money for retirement and will no longer be able to cover their basic costs once they get older.

In turn, some of them may even end up homeless since they will simply no longer be able to pay their rent.

Top 10 Being a Babysitter Pros & Cons – Summary List

Should You Become A Babysitter?

As you can see from the previous analysis, there are many advantages and disadvantages of being a babysitter.

In fact, whether you should work as a babysitter or not greatly depends on your individual preferences and on your goals in life.

It can also just be a nice side hustle for you to finance your education and to get a different job in the future that is better suitable for you.

If you are still interested in a babysitter career, also make sure to have a look at the salary, job prospects, educational requirements, working hours and job satisfaction of babysitters.

Also make sure to check out the following articles if you want to learn more about additional promising job opportunities:

Advantages and disadvantages of working as a pastry chef

Advantages and disadvantages of working as a forester

Sources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babysitting

https://www.statista.com/statistics/468114/us-consumer-spending-on-babysitting-and-child-care/

About the author

My name is Andreas and my mission is to educate people about the different career paths that are possible in our current state of the world. In my opinion, people often make the mistake to choose their profession solely based on how much money they can earn from it instead of doing what makes them really happy.

This is quite sad and I just want to give people a more objective picture of how a fulfilling career could look like. I did the same when I started working in consulting after finishing my Master’s degree in Economics. However, I’ve quit pretty soon after that since I haven’t found true meaning in my job.

Now I can do what I really love to do and I want to enable as many other people as well to go this exciting path towards happiness instead of money.

I conducted various interviews with employees to give you a good impression of what working in different fields will look like and that you can make the best possible decision regarding your future career choice.

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