Babysitting By: Sarah Beasley Community Service Project

What is the problem? The divorce rate seems to increase to a higher number each year. In the year of 1970 the divorce rate was only 58,239 but today the divorce rate is 119,589 which is more than half of what it was in The United States has one of the highest divorce rates in the world. Not only does divorce affect the couple but it also affects the children. Between 1970 and 1996 the divorce rate increased and US census showed that the proportion of children under 18 living in single parent home grew from 12 percent to 28 percent. A big issue that affects divorce rate is that couples are spending less alone time together. That is why babysitting helps with the problem of the divorce rate. The parents don’t have to worry about leaving their children home alone so babysitters give them the chance to have alone time together, like going out on a date night.

How did I help? I took care of my mothers friends two year old girl. Her husband had to get up very early and say out late for work and she had to work throughout the school day. She dropped her child off at a daycare Monday through Friday but she couldn’t find anyone to take care of her on weekends so that her and her husband could have a date every once in a while because every time they would decide they wanted to take a day to themselves. So I volunteered to take care of her so they could actually spend some quality time together. She told me that their relationship has been better ever since because she can actually spend time with him without having to tend to her child and they can just focus on eachother.

What did I learn? I learned that divorce not only affects the couple going through the divorce but it also greatly affects the children of the couple. I also learned that babysitting helps the couple because it gives them available time to spend alone and get to possibly fix the problems that they are dealing with without the hassle of dealing with their child.

Was the activity worthwhile? Yes this activity was worth while because it helped me realize that I really like working with kids and babysitting. I also got to help the couple get alone time together and work on the problems that they may have had. Also, I got to gain a new little friend.

Works Cited Rogers, Simon. "Divorce rates data, 1858 to now: why are divorces going up?." rates-marriage-ons. 8 Dec Web. "Divorce." 8 Dec. Web.

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