Also called: Sitter, In-Home Child Care Provider, Mother's Helper, Date-Night Sitter
Watches children in their own home for a few hours while parents work or go out, keeping them safe, fed and busy.
You arrive at 5 p.m., get the parents' list of rules, and make mac and cheese for two kids. You play a board game, supervise bath time, read bedtime stories, and text the parents a quick update.
Estimate as full-time pay; most babysitting is part-time at about $15–25 an hour. BLS childcare workers: $34,980 median (May 2025).
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
No formal education, about 0 years after high school. No education required; a Red Cross babysitting course and CPR/first aid help you get hired.
Ways in: Self-taught, Certification. Training cost: Under $15k.
Majors to look at: Early Childhood Education, Child Development.
Shrinking (about -2% over 10 years). BLS projects -2% for childcare workers overall, 2025-35, but families still look for sitters all the time.
Low risk for 10 years. Apps help families find and pay sitters; caring for kids in person stays human.
Age 14+. One way to start: Tell neighbors, family friends and parents from school you're available; a Red Cross course helps families trust you
Classes: Child development or FCS class, Health class, CPR/first aid.
Official data: O*NET occupation 39-9011.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.