Why oh why do people not think babysitting is not a "job"?

Question

First of all let me clarify. Babysitting means a person comes to your house and watches ONLY your kids. I'm not talking about a child care center or a woman who watches half the neighborhood at once.

Why do people think that just because they don't make much money that other people's time is worthless? Just because you make $8/hr doesn't mean your babysitter isn't doing a JOB. The federal government says jobs should be paid at least minimum wage. Why would a woman caring for your children not deserve as much?

Answer 1

Being a babysitter is a job but not one that is paid minimum wage.  Most people don't even pay taxes on the income they get while babysitting.  If you don't like babysitting them don't do it. Babysitting isn't meant to be a fulltime thing, babysitting got started by people doing it on weekends or for parents to have a night out of for emergencies and now more people want to stay home and make money so they babysit but it isn't ok to charge people a fortune to babysit their kids.  If you want the money get a daycare license and get certified then you might be worth that kind of pay.  

Answer 2

The people who think this are the same people who think that stay at home moms don't work! I personally pay my babysitter $10 to watch 3 kids and my teenager is home to help!

Answer 3

Same reason they don;t think that being a stay at home mom is a job. There is no respect for the ones who do the most for the littlest of all. There is no product being produced, no service performed (well, from a consumer point of view), no dividends except for happy kids.  

Answer 4

I absolutely agree with you!  You get what you pay for!  I run babysitting services out of my home and charge $5 per hour (less than minimum wage) and even still some parents act like this is so high!  The problem is, in a competitive world there is always someone willing to do it for less . . . and all too often people will disregard what is being offered for less . . .