Usually it's your teenage sister, or your friends younger relative who tends to get the babysitting duty, but it seems that babysitters have increased in age by 20 years over the course of a generation.
Parenting on Female First
www.MyVoucherCodes.co.uk have revealed that the average age of a babysitter has increased by 20 years as parents are more wary of whom they trust with their children than in previous generations.
The poll, which asked 1,798 parents from across the UK with at least one child aged 10 or under, wanted to find out the main reasons for such a high rise in years of a babysitter.
The research revealed that the 71% of the participants who said that they have a babysitter for their child or children, 51% admitted to asking their grandparents to babysit whilst 32% said they asked an aunt or uncle to look after their children. A further 26% said that a friend would babysit for them.
The study found that the average age of a babysitter was 34.
79% of the parents taking part said that, when they were a child, they had a babysitter. They were asked to select from a list who babysat them when they were children. The results showed that a younger family member was the most popular with 55%, followed by a casual babysitter reaching 37% as a common minder for parents when they were young.
Other results that came in were, grandparent of a child with 21%, older family member at 21% and just 15% of friends of parents as babysitters.
When asked what they thought the average age of their babysitter(s) was when they were younger, ‘14’ emerged as the average age, which suggested a 20 year increase over the course of a generation.
Respondents were also asked for their opinions on why they felt there might be a difference in age between babysitters when they were little and babysitters now. 56% felt that parents are 'less trusting of people with their children now'. 21% viewed the younger generation as being 'less responsible', whilst a further 16% felt that the age disparity was simply down to more children 'having their grandparents around’ now.
Mark Pearson, Chairman of MyVoucherCodes.co.uk, made the following comment about the findings: "Is the average age of a babysitter a reflection of modern society? Sadly, we think it might be. Several years ago, people thought nothing of leaving younger children in the care of their older siblings and local children could earn some pocket money by keeping an eye on a neighbour’s youngster whilst the parents went out for the evening."
He continued:"But it seems that those days are gone, as people no longer trust others in the manner that they used to. It could be considered a good thing that parents are more rigorous in choosing who looks after their children, but it's also sad that parents feel the need to do so in today's society."
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