Life with the economy as it is ....

In order to get some sort of steady income while going to school I tend to babysit on average 15 hours a week. With the economy as it is, I have noticed that many families are cutting back on little elastic items but are also being consistent with their spending on inelastic items. One family I babysit every Wednesday has cut back on the wife's "shopping" yet is still paying me on average $100 a week to babysit their children while they have a date night. In this case I can tell that clothing and household goods are elastic to their family and instead of shopping at Nordstrom and other high end retailers they are shopping at Gap and Macy's which are close substitutes making clothing more elastic. On the other hand having a babysitter to watch their children does not have a close substitute because "babysitters" are not a narrowly defined item. Me as their babysitter is probably elastic, but if they want to continue to have date night a babysitter in general is not elastic. This is just something little that has been crossing my mind and reminding me of Economics Class.