Babysitting is temporarily caring for a child. Babysitting can be a paid job for all ages; however, it is best known as a temporary activity for early teenagers who are not yet eligible for employment in the general economy. It provides autonomy from parental control and dispensable income, as well as an introduction to the techniques of childcare. It emerged as a social role for teenagers in the 1920s, and became especially important in suburban America in the 1950s and 1960s, when small children were abundant. It stimulated an outpouring of folk culture in the form of urban legends, pulp novels, and horror films. Overall In developed countries, most babysitters are high school or college students (age 16+). Some adults have in-home childcare as well. They are not babysitters but professional childcare providers and early childhood educators. The work for babysitters also varies from watching a sleeping child, changing diapers, playing games, and preparing meals, to teaching the child to read or even drive, depending on the agreement between parents and babysitter. In some countries, various organizations produce courses for babysitters, many focusing on child safety and first-aid appropriate for infants and children; these educational programs can be provided at local hospitals and schools. Different activities will be needed for babies and toddlers. It will be beneficial for the babysitters to understand toddler developmental milestones to plan for the necessary activities. As paid employees, babysitters often require a disclosure or assessment of one's criminal record to ward off possible hebephiles, pedophiles, and other unsuitable applicants. Cost United States According to the caregiver-finding platform UrbanSitter, the national average babysitting cost was $22.68 an hour for one child, $25.37 an hour for two, and $27.70 an hour for three children. This rate has increased by 21 percent since 2019. Etymology The term "baby sitter" first appeared in 1937, while the verb form "baby-sit" was first recorded in 1947. The American Heritage College Dictionary notes, "One normally would expect the agent noun babysitter with its -er suffix to come from the verb baby-sit, as diver comes from dive, but in fact babysitter is first recorded in 1937, ten years earlier than the first appearance of baby-sit. Thus the verb was derived from the agent noun rather than the other way around and represented a good example of back-formation. The use of the word "sit" to refer to a person tending to a child