Past tense of babysit; took care of someone else's children while the parents were away.
Compound word from 'baby' plus 'sat' (past tense of sit). The phrase 'baby-sit' emerged in American English in the 1940s, combining the idea of 'sitting' with a child, and quickly became one word.
The word 'babysitting' is surprisingly modern—it didn't exist before the 1940s when American teenagers started getting paid to watch children! Before that, childcare was a family responsibility, not a job teenagers could do for money.
Childcare labor became feminized and devalued in industrial economies; babysitting is culturally coded as 'women's work' despite being performed by all genders. The term carries assumptions about caregiving as natural female work rather than skilled labor.
Use neutrally for anyone providing childcare. Acknowledge childcare as labor deserving fair compensation, not as an obligation or extension of femininity.
["provided childcare","cared for children"]
The unpaid and low-wage childcare economy disproportionately relies on and exploits women and women of color; recognizing this as labor (not love) is essential to equity.
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