Parents desperate for a break, but no money for babysitters as cost of living goes up

When my kids were younger, we did not have much family support. With my husband’s family overseas, and mine based several hours away, I found myself as a new mum without the so-called village experts say is necessary to raise your kids.

Without this support, our ‘date nights’ were mostly arranged for when my mother was visiting, which also left me feeling guilty about not spending time with her. 

When I was nine months pregnant with my second child, we booked a hastily-arranged one-night ‘babymoon’, with our toddler in tow, only to find he wasn’t allowed in the on-site restaurant. 

So we booked a babysitter through the hotel at considerable expense, pushed back dinner until I could put him to sleep myself, and I spent the night fussing and ordering my husband back and forth to the room to check the babysitter wasn’t an axe murder (she wasn’t).

In time, I started to acknowledge that having a night-off from the drudgery that is parenting small children was good for me, and them.

We ended up using our children’s childcare workers as occasional babysitters.

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At the time, the rate childcare workers charged was about double what my friends paid the local neighbourhood kids, and there was nothing quite like spending the night watching the clock so that you made it home before it ticked over another hour.

Sometimes, we were so cash-strapped after paying the mortgage, two lots of childcare and everything else, but so desperate for a break, that instead of going out for dinner we would get the babysitter to come during the day and play with the kids or take them to the park while we caught up on chores or went for a child-free walk.

Nowadays, parents are lucky to be able to afford a break at all due to rising cost-of-living pressures.

A survey of more than 1000 parents commissioned by entertainment venue Kingpin found 90 per cent of parents thought having a night off from parenting duties was important for their mental health, but 77 per cent said babysitting costs prevented them from taking a child-free break.

Seven-in-10 parents surveyed said the cost of a child-free night put added pressure on household finances, forcing them to cut back elsewhere, or simply miss out altogether.

The cost of fuel was one of the biggest factors, with 62 per cent of parents saying it reduced how often they go out, while 11 per cent said they had stopped going out altogether.

The survey also found 78 per cent of parents want more child-free time but the cost of babysitting was putting them off.

The same survey found the average cost to hire a babysitter in Australia is $68, with NSW residents paying the most, at $76.

South Australian parents paid the least, at $49.

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One of the people surveyed paid a staggering $500 for one night.

The rising cost of hiring a babysitter meant parents were going almost 14 weeks without a break.

Kat Wyeth, a senior psychologist based in the NSW Illawarra region, said the research showed Australian parents were lacking much-needed support. 

“With nine-in-10 parents burnt out, and the average parent going without time for themselves for over three months, it speaks to how little opportunity parents are getting to properly switch off, reconnect with themselves, or simply rest, all of which are crucial to psychological and emotional well-being,” she said.

Kingpin has partnered with babysitting and nanny provider Kiddo to offer $100 babysitting vouchers to the first 270 people who book one of their Parents Off Duty experiences at their venues between June 1-7.

Kingpin’s chief operating officer Belinda Falzon said it was hoped the initiative, which was timed to coincide with the United Nations’ Global Day of Parents on June 1, would encourage parents to prioritise themselves. 

“We wanted to create something that makes a real difference for Aussie parents right now, because we know wanting a break and actually being able to take one are two very different things,” she said.

“By helping to cover the cost of babysitting, we hope to give people the chance to step away from the everyday juggle for a few hours and genuinely switch off.”