Career profile Β· live from the Careermash careers engine
Care / support

Babysitter

A babysitter looks after children in the family's home, usually for a few hours in the evening or at weekends while the parents are out. It is a flexible, popular first job for responsible teenagers and students, and rewarding for anyone who is good with children and trustworthy.
No degree needed for many routesEntry routes with no formal quals
Direct entry route
0
AI impact
how much AI is reshaping it
Robin Β· your guide
Curious about being a babysitter? Here's the honest picture - what you'd really do, what you'd earn, and every way in. No need to decide anything yet.

What you'd actually do

The work is mostly keeping children safe, happy and to their routine - playing, feeding, bathing, reading stories and getting them to bed - and tidying up afterwards. The most important part is being reliable and calm, knowing what to do if a child is upset or unwell, and keeping parents informed.

It is usually casual, cash-or-app work paid by the hour, often around or a little above minimum wage and higher in some areas or for several children. Hours are irregular and evening-heavy, and you carry real responsibility while you are the only adult in charge.

You do not need qualifications to babysit informally, and most people get started through family, friends, neighbours or babysitting apps and word of mouth. A paediatric first aid course is a big plus, and any more formal or registered childcare work brings stricter rules and background checks.

1Keep children safe and supervised at all times
2Prepare snacks or meals and tidy up
3Play games and read or do activities
4Follow bedtime and bath routines
5Comfort and settle upset children
6Deal calmly with minor accidents or illness
7Update parents on how the evening went

Degrees that lead here via Childcare & Early Years

Degree options are mapped from subjects - explore the buckets to find related courses.

Apprenticeships that lead here

No apprenticeship standard maps directly yet - the university or college route is the main way in.

How to get in - your routes

Careermash Β· your kind of work, the careers in it, and every route in - all in one place.

Career data: role, pay and progression profiles built for Careermash's careers engine; AI-impact estimates from Anthropic's observed AI-usage telemetry and OpenAI's AI Jobs Transition Framework. Course data: HESA / Discover Uni, including Graduate Outcomes, LEO and the National Student Survey. Apprenticeships: IfATE-published standards, approved only.

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