Babysitting is a common early-work experience in the West, yet there is little research on babysitters. From in-depth, qualitative interviews with 16 babysitters, we explore three themes related to liminality and gender inequality in babysitting. First, babysitting is a skilled job; many babysitters undertook formal and informal training and used it at work. Second, babysitters occupy a liminal position between childhood and adulthood, bringing challenges and opportunities at work. Finally, babysitters thoughtfully negotiate pay, but sometimes experience challenges doing so.
CodyK (2012) ‘BeTween two worlds’: Critically exploring marketing segmentation and liminal consumers. Young Consumers13(3): 284–302.
5.
CodyKLawlorKMaclaranP (2011) On the borderline: Metaconsumption and the liminal tween. European Advances in Consumer Research9: 385–393.
6.
CrenshawK (1989) Demarginalizing the intersection of race and sex: A black feminist critique of antidiscrimination doctrine, feminist theory and antiracist politics. University of Chicago Legal Forum139.
7.
Forman-BrunellM (2009) Babysitter: An American History. New York, NY: New York University Press.
HobbsSMcKechnieJAndersonS (2007) Making child employment in Britain more visible. Critical Social Policy27(3): 415–425.
10.
HungerlandBLiebelMLieseckeA, et al. (2007) Paths to participatory autonomy: The meanings of work for children in Germany. Childhood14(2): 257–277.
11.
HuppatzK (2009) Reworking Bourdieu’s ‘Capital’: Feminine and female capitals in the field of paid caring work. Sociology43(1): 45–66.
12.
KooremanP (2009) The early inception of labor market gender differences. Labour Economics16: 135–139.
13.
KouranyRFGwinnMMartinJE (1980a) Adolescent babysitting: A 30-year-old phenomenon. Adolescence15: 339–345.
14.
KouranyRFMartinJELaBarberaJD (1980b) Adolescents as babysitters. Adolescence15: 155–158.
15.
KouranyRFCLaBarberaJD (1986) Babysitting: A milestone of early adolescence. Journal of Early Adolescence6(2): 197–200.
16.
LeskoN (2001) Act Your Age: A Cultural Construction of Adolescence. New York, NY: RoutledgeFalmer.
17.
MizenPBoltonAPoleC (1999) School age workers: The paid employment of children in Britain. Work, Employment and Society13(3): 423–438.
18.
MorrowV (2008) Chapter 6: Responsible children and children’s responsibilities? Sibling caretaking and babysitting by school-age children. In: BridgemanJKeatingHLindC (eds) Responsibility, Law and the Family. New York, NY: Routledge, pp. 105–124.
19.
NeedlemanRNelsonA (1988) Chapter 16: Policy implications: The worth of women’s work. In: StathamAMillerEMMaukschHO (eds) The Worth of Women’s Work: A Qualitative Synthesis. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.
RabyRLehmanWEasterbrookR, et al. (2018) “I’ll be more prepared than most people”: Very young Canadian workers talking about their first jobs. Childhood25(2): 237–252.
22.
SaariMLWoodEWoodK (2017) Work, Remuneration, and negotiation for pay in early adolescence: Exploring early causes of gender pay inequity. Journal of Financial Counseling and Planning28(1): 20.
23.
SheppardLCRabyRLehmannW, et al. (2019) Grill guys and drive-thru girls: Discourses of gender in young people’s park-time work. Journal of Childhood Studies44(3): 56–69.
24.
TurnerV (1969) The Ritual Process: Structure and Anti-Structure. Chicago: Aldine Pub. Co.
25.
WilskaTALintonenT (2016) The gender gap in teenagers’ incomes. A 30-year trend in Finland 1983–2013. Journal of Youth Studies19(4): 421–437.
26.
WindauJMeyerS (2005) Occupational injuries among young workers. Monthly Labor Review128: 11.
27.
ZieroldKMGarmanSAndersonH (2004) Summer work and injury among middle school students, aged 10–14 years. Occupational and Environmental Medicine61(6): 518–522.
