The once-common rite of passage of teens babysitting neighborhood children has declined sharply, and parents, researchers and former sitters say the shift has costs beyond lost earnings.
Journalistic accounts and experts point to safety concerns, busier teen schedules, the professionalization of childcare and digital platforms that connect parents to vetted adult caregivers as drivers of the trend. The result, some say, is fewer opportunities for adolescents to learn responsibility and for younger children to experience the particular kind of play and attention that older kids provide.
"You're supervising kids and implicitly offering them a model of what it's like to be older and a teen — but you're not edifying them," Anne Helen Petersen wrote in a widely cited take on millennial babysitters, noting that past generations treated babysitting as an informal, low-barrier job. Katherine Goldstein, a journalist who writes about care issues, said parents now ask potential sitters detailed questions about meals, screen time and approved activities in ways that signal higher expectations than in previous decades.
The history of babysitting in the United States helps explain how common teen sitters once were. Modern babysitting emerged in the 1920s as middle-class families gained disposable income and it became more socially acceptable for mothers to go out, writers such as Faith Hill have noted. The 1980s marked a cultural apex for teen sitters, featuring literary and pop-culture depictions from the Baby-Sitters Club series to comic-strip characters like Rosalyn in Calvin & Hobbes. Over subsequent decades, norms about children's independence shifted: parents increasingly expect older ages before leaving children unsupervised and teens have seen their schedules grow heavy with structured activities.
Researchers and social observers point to several overlapping reasons for the decline. Teen employment fell for decades before a modest rebound in recent years, and young people now participate in more extracurricular programs that compete with part-time work. Rising anxiety about safety and the availability of vetted adult caregivers through apps and services has given parents alternatives to hiring neighborhood teens. "There’s probably a lot more angst and pressure" on babysitters today, Goldstein said, compared with the casual arrangements many adults remember.
Advocates for reviving teen babysitting argue that the practice teaches caregiving skills, responsibility, split-second decision-making and interpersonal competencies that structured activities may not provide. Parents and former sitters describe formative experiences. Karen Johnson, an author and mother of a 14-year-old sitter, said babysitting helped her daughter build confidence by meeting families and negotiating pay. A 14-year-old who identified herself as Gracie in reporting said babysitting forced her to make quick decisions and to adapt to different household rules.
Young children also benefit, proponents say. "Older kids are just so much more enchanting than adults," Goldstein said, adding that adolescents often bring energy and playfulness adults may avoid. Parents who rely on informal sitters report that the arrangement can fuel neighborhood ties and a more collaborative approach to child rearing, strengthening intergenerational community bonds.
Critics and caveats accompany calls to increase teen babysitting. Some adolescents take on paid care to support their families rather than for the developmental benefits often highlighted in nostalgic accounts. Not every teen wants or should be asked to babysit. Vox reporting has noted that the decline in teen employment coincided with rising high school graduation rates, and many parents prioritize academics or structured enrichment for their children.
Scholars and parents say the trend is also symptomatic of broader social changes. As communities become less connected and surveillance and intensive parenting cultures grow, trusting a neighborhood teen with a child can feel riskier. Platforms that match families with certified, reviewed caregivers have reduced the informational gaps that once made parents rely on known neighbors and family friends; they have also professionalized a task once treated as informal.
Policy analysts and care advocates caution that expanding teen babysitting is not a cure-all for gaps in the family-support ecosystem. Rebuilding interfamily relationships and local networks requires time and broader structural changes in work, housing and social services. Still, for families able to make it work, informal adolescent care offers one small way to restore some of the social fabric that has frayed in recent decades.
The discussion about babysitting intersects with wider debates about youth independence and civic life, and it raises questions about what kinds of experiences adults want to preserve for adolescents. Though the decline of teen babysitters may reflect pragmatic concerns, those who fought to keep the tradition say the loss is cultural as well as practical: fewer young people are getting a low-stakes chance to step into an adultlike role and fewer children are experiencing the particular brand of play and attention older kids often provide.
This report draws on a piece originally published in Vox's Kids Today newsletter by Anna North and reporting that cited experts including Anne Helen Petersen and Katherine Goldstein, as well as parents and teens who have babysat or been cared for by adolescents.