Care work

Childcare & babysitting

You watch kids for families by the hour or the evening, at their place or yours. Sitters find work through word of mouth or apps like Care.com.

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Median monthly earnings

$1,620

Middle 50% shown here

Effective hourly

$24.00

Earnings over the hours people logged

Hours per week

6 hrs

Median across reviews

Startup cost

$100–500

To get up and running

Time to first $100

1–4 weeks

From starting out

Monthly expenses

$50–150

To keep it running

Schedule flexibility

Mostly flexible

Most common answer

Would recommend it

79%

Say yes or probably yes

What people make in a month

Gross earnings people entered themselves, before expenses and taxes. Example distribution.

Under $100

$100–250

$250–500

$500–1,000

$1,000–2,000

$2,000–3,500

$3,500–5,000

$5,000–10,000

$10,000+

By platform

How many reviewers use each platform. Many people work more than one.

?Platform one

12 reviewers

?Platform two

9 reviewers

?Platform three

4 reviewers

How it scores

Happiness7.4 / 10

Would do it again68%

Schedule flexibility4.1 / 5

Pay predictability2.9 / 5

What surprised people most

Every option reviewers could pick, most common first. Example distribution.

How difficult it is to find customers or clients

Unexpected expenses

How little I could earn

Nothing really surprised me

How difficult it is to get started

Taxes — how much I owe

How much I could earn

How competitive the market is

How much time it takes

Example preview

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About five minutes · anonymous · US residents only

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Most people doing childcare & babysitting overpay on taxes — here's the full write-off guide.

👶 22 Tax Write-Offs for Independent Childcare Providers

We’ve gathered the best tax write-offs for independent childcare providers, so you can lower your tax bills and your stress levels at the same time.

Side hustle income means side hustle taxes.

Keeper — the tax app behind this index — finds the write-offs for whatever work you do.

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