This study takes departure from the paradox between the emotionally priceless caring of one’s own child and the unwillingness to pay a high prize when outsourcing the care. The purpose of this study is to explore this paradox and how it is expressed and negotiated by; parents who pays for private childminding; and by the companies providing these services The empirical data consists of six qualitative interviews with mothers hiring babysitters for their children and 19 discussion threads from the internet forum Familjeliv. To contextualize this data four company profiles from the Swedish nanny-market were included together with the technical aspects of the Swedish tax deduction for household services. The data was analyzed in the light of marxist theory of work; concepts of spiritual and menial care-work; and emotional and monetary value. The result of this study indicates that when attaching monetary value of the childminding a close relation to the child – such as kinship – devaluates the care-work; however, when hiring a babysitter from a company parents wish them to build a close relationship with the child. This relationship then has a high emotional value, but when recognizing what the pricing of the care-work consists of, only the babysitters’ qualities and the menial parts of childminding, i.e. the chores, are mentioned. This study also shows that through hiring a babysitter the parents own time with their children gains a “higher quality”. I therefore argue that according to the parents the commercialization of childcare increases the emotional value of the parents’ care-work, but the monetary value of the payed care-work remains unchanged and low paid.

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