The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a labor shortage in various industries in the United States. This gap has resulted in some of the best pay hikes that some workers have experienced in years. According to a report, one of the jobs getting a major pay increase is babysitting.
Babysitting was an underpaid occupation before the pandemic; however, according to CBS News, the average pay for a babysitter rose to as much as 11 percent in 2021 at $20.57 an hour to babysit a single child. This came from a recent analysis by UrbanSitter, a company that connects parents and families with babysitters. Despite the rise in inflation in December, the wages of babysitters are outpacing it thanks to a huge demand for childcare.
Demands for childcare
Although this pay hike translates to great news for babysitters, this adds up to the expenses of families who are already wading through high costs and expenses due to inflation. The considerable demand for babysitters means that they can charge more since there is a current shortage of childcare providers. In addition, this can mean that although babysitting used to be an underpaid labor, these care providers can now demand and lobby for better pay and better working conditions and benefits. This can include better working hours and an improved working environment.
However, great pay for these childcare workers means that some families need to allocate more from their budgets to get sitters. With rising inflation, babysitting rates also increase. However, some childcare centers or daycare centers also struggle since finding qualified providers has become difficult.
According to the Washington Post, childcare workers have declined due to the pandemic. In 2021, more than a million mothers dropped out of the labor force to take care of their children who had to stay at home due to COVID-19 restrictions. Many childcare centers struggled to find qualified employees as more and more families opt to get babysitters instead because of remote working.
Private babysitting
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen pointed out that families have to spend a huge chunk of their income on childcare, yet daycare center workers earn so little. In addition, these sitters, who tend to be a bit older than the typical teenage sitters, are usually young adults who wish to earn on the side without dealing with a larger number of kids.
Due to the low pay for childcare workers, some of these individuals tend to prefer private babysitting instead as they may earn more. According to federal data, a daycare worker earns about $12 per hour on average. Teens who used to be a part of the talent pool for childcare now opt to work in restaurants and other businesses since they may get more per hour than working in childcare centers.
Some of the cities with the highest babysitting rates are in San Francisco, which goes as much as $26 per hour to take care of two children. In New York, the pay is about $25 per hour to sit two children, according to UrbanSitter.
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