In addition, following the government's relaxation of family planning laws allowing married urban couples to have second children in 2016, a growing number of newborns have been second children, and young Chinese families have shown increasingly higher demand for nannies and babysitters, said Guo Xin, a marketing professor at Beijing Technology and Business University.

Following China's announcement allowing all couples to have a third child, more parents are expected to fuel growing demand for quality postpartum nannies and babysitters in the long term, further boosting the business growth of the sector, industry experts said.

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic last year when some sectors suffered from falling demand, urban Chinese families have shown a steady need in hiring babysitters.

There is an apparent supply-demand gap between families who need babysitters and the number of available high-quality babysitters, especially in some densely populated major cities, said Beijing Ainong Housekeeping Service Co. "More urban families are expected to generate higher demand for babysitters, and more people are likely to join the sector to become babysitters, as they have seen the growth prospects of the market.

So far, about 1,200 women are still working as babysitters and taking care of newborns and babies who are under 3 years old, the school said.

Despite the outbreak of COVID-19 early this year, most families have been exhibiting sustained demand for babysitters and domestic helpers while demand for cleaning services and other regular housekeeping work dropped during the period, industry players observed.

Such a trend has reminded housekeeping service providers that when the external environment changes, consumers still exhibit a stable demand for hiring babysitters, postpartum nannies and eldercare helpers－positions that require certain professional skills－said Beijing Ainong Housekeeping Service Co. "The housekeeping sector suffered a short-term impact due to COVID-19, but the contagion has further pushed digitalization of the sector, and some companies have been able to find some new business opportunities," said Mu Lijie, president of Beijing Ainong Housekeeping Service Co. "For instance, demand for some emerging new professional services has increased, such as high-temperature fumigation and restroom disinfection.