Is there a legal age to start babysitting?
There is no legal age for babysitting but the NSPCC recommend that a child of thirteen has not attained the necessary Sense to cope with an emergency and they would prefer a babysitter to be sixteen or over, if the parents that leave their children with young babysitters they run the risk of being accused of neglect if it is deemed that the babysitter is not capable of coping but this would only be as a result of someone reporting that a young person was looking after the children, I have left a link for you to view and this will give you an idea of what the law is in the UK.
No there is no legal age for babysitting. It is the responsibility of the parents using common sense to make the decision. It is worth bearing in mind though that a child under 16 years old cannot be prosecuted for neglect or ill treatment of children in their care. The parents/carers/guardians would be charged in that situation. However, any person who is 16 or over and who has responsibility for a person under that age could be prosecuted. Obviously this applies to UK.
