Maintaining Eligibility

After you are awarded unemployment benefits, to maintain eligibility, your state will likely require you to submit weekly claims on your income and employment status. Typically, you must provide information such as your ability and availability to work, whether you're attending school, records of your job search efforts, and any offered employment. In addition, you will likely be required to report any income or earnings, including money received from part-time work, self-employment, or odd jobs such as babysitting.

Effect on Unemployment

You may still be eligible to receive unemployment even though you are making money babysitting. As of 2013, if your earnings are under a particular percentage of your unemployment benefits, for example 20 percent in Ohio and 30 percent in New Hampshire, then it may not affect your benefits at all. For instance, if you receive $100 a week in unemployment, and you make $15 a week babysitting, your unemployment benefits will likely stay the same. However, any amount over the state percentage will reduce your benefits, and if you make more money babysitting than you receive in benefits, you likely will no longer be eligible for unemployment.

Partial vs. Total Employment

Babysitting, like any other type of work, may disqualify you for unemployment benefits if you are working full time. Generally, you may continue to receive unemployment benefits if you are only partially employed, and your wages are under a certain amount. However, for the purposes of unemployment, it does not matter if you are working for a company or if you are a self-employed babysitter. Either way, if you work full time, you can likely no longer collect unemployment.

Penalties for Failing to Report

If you fail to report money you earned while on unemployment and the state finds out, you may face serious consequences. Failing to report income may be considered fraud, and you will likely have to back the unemployment you received during the weeks you did not accurately report your income, in addition to interest and penalty fees. You may be disqualified from receiving unemployment for a period of time, up to a year in New Hampshire, as of 2013. Further, unemployment fraud over a certain amount may be considered a felony in your state, which could lead to additional fines and even imprisonment.