Where have all the teen babysitters gone?

No one can deny it takes a village to raise a child – but in an age of social erosion, these villages are rapidly shrinking.

Aussie parents seem to have officially abandoned the teen babysitter, and their absence has left a notable gap in support networks nationwide. But with parental burnout now hitting record highs, is it time we finally brought them back?

Once upon a time, the archetypal sitter lived just a few doors down. She may have been the daughter of a friend – perhaps a girl you’d known since she was small, or watched grow up.

They were a valuable resource for parents, on hand to help with any last-minute childcare needs in a pinch.

Spurred on by the seismic influence of 90s media à la The Babysitters Club, the Australia of yesteryear widely viewed babysitting culture as an informal rite of passage for teenage girls.

But in 2026, the arrangement of hiring a local teen has been traded in for a somewhat more professionalised – and expensive – framework.

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One conversation with a coworker yielded a response reflective of parental anxieties and current anti-sitter sentiment.

Despite once being entrusted to watch her next-door neighbour’s child as a teenager, she, now a parent herself, would not consider a similar arrangement with her neighbour’s teens.

When asked why, she had one key admission – she didn’t know them.

Alas, the teen babysitter – once woven into the fabric of close-knit communities – has become a stranger to us.

So, what changed?

Speaking to nine.com.au, psychologist Kat Wyeth put this sad state of affairs down to rapidly depleting community networks.

Recent data from Real Insurance and MyMavins highlighted a generational gap in behaviour, revealing 72 per cent of Aussies felt neighbours were “less interested” in knowing each other now compared to 20 years ago.

“The isolation and social silos that many families experience today mean we may no longer have that same familiarity or trust with the young people around us,” Wyeth agreed.

“What has changed is that we once tended to know the teenagers in our neighbourhoods.”

In short: The less familiar parents are with the high-schoolers on their block, the less inclined they may be to place the care of their children in their variably capable hands.

The mental and financial toll of vanishing villages

The 2025 Uniting Families Report revealed a stark truth: while most Australian families value the support of a village in raising children, not all have access to one.

Gone are the days when 20 bucks forked from the depths of a trifold wallet covered a night of childcare. Societal and economic pressures are now actively pricing out families from these essential services.

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With professional childcare by no means immune to the cost of living crisis, this is leaving anxious parents grappling with the prospect of either splashing out, or burning out.

“From a psychological perspective, when parents lose their village, the responsibility of raising children can feel much heavier, intense and more isolating,” Wyeth said.

“Parents may experience greater stress, anxiety and decision fatigue, while also feeling they have to be constantly available and responsible for their child’s wellbeing.”

The backlash in response to a recent Instagram callout from the ABC, which prompted working mums to share their “secrets to juggling work with drop off and pick up and the extracurricular activities,” reflected this sentiment.

“We aren’t coping, and there are no tips!” one commenter wrote.

“Our village is gone, we’re burnt out [and] overwhelmed.”

The case for a teen sitter return

With almost 60 per cent of Australian parents reporting to have experienced moderate-to-high psychological distress in 2025, something’s got to give – and the solution could be closer to home (perhaps just over the garden fence) than we think.

A recent Reddit post, in which one despondent user lamented the untimely demise of the teen sitter, urged parents to consider a gradual return to this more casual form of care.

“Teen babysitters were a blessing & it’s a mistake of the modern world to do away with them,” the user began the now-viral post.

“I hear more and more about super expensive daycare, nannies and after school care ... qualification inflation has not helped the childcare field when it comes to a parent’s night out or after school care, especially if cost is a concern,” they said.

“I understand that teenagers are ‘young’ but a good teen babysitter is also old enough to balance responsibility with being a fun, engaging, older kid to look up to.”

While the poster admitted not all teens would be a good fit,” and that it’d be up to parents to vet them accordingly, they pointed out this is a necessary process adult caregivers must undergo, too.

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Wyeth agreed, but acknowledged parents’ feelings of anxiety regarding outsourced care are valid.

“[Professional caregivers] can feel psychologically safer than handing their child over to someone they only know casually,” Wyeth admitted.

But overall, she supported the return of the teen sitter in 2026.

“I don’t think the answer is that parents simply need to be less fearful,” she was quick to clarify.

“Rather, where it feels feasible and appropriate, families can gradually broaden their circle of trusted caregivers, starting slowly with people they know and feel comfortable with, and allowing that trust to develop over time.”