Did Jill Biden work as a nanny for Joe Biden and his first wife?

1. The core claim and where it comes from

The narrative that Jill Biden was a teenage babysitter for Joe Biden’s children circulated widely on social platforms and spawned fact-checks; those posts assert she was underage and already caring for the family before Joe’s first wife died ^{[2] [6]}. Those posts rely on a dated photo and on informal social-media commentary rather than documentary evidence ^{[3] [6]}.

2. What Jill and Joe say about when they met

Jill Biden has repeatedly said she met Joe in 1975, when she was a college senior and in her early 20s; the White House and multiple outlets cite that timeline and the couple’s own recounting of a blind date arranged by Joe’s brother ^{[2] [1] [5]}. A 2020 campaign video and Jill’s public statements describe their first interactions occurring when she was a young adult, not a teenager ^{[2] [6]}.

3. What independent fact‑checkers concluded

Reuters, AP, Newsweek, Snopes and PolitiFact reviewed the claim and concluded there’s no evidence Jill was the family babysitter or that she was a teenager when she and Joe began dating; these outlets trace the couple’s timeline to mid‑1970s accounts and to Jill’s own posts and interviews ^{[2] [1] [3] [4] [5]}. Fact‑checkers note that some alternate timelines come from unverified statements by third parties but do not overturn Jill and Joe’s consistent chronology ^{[4] [5]}.

4. Conflicting anecdotes and why they persist

Some secondary accounts — including claims by Jill’s first husband and other commentators in later years — suggest earlier contacts in the early 1970s; fact‑checkers flag those as unverified and inconsistent with Jill’s and Joe’s own recollections and with contemporaneous reporting ^{[4] [5]}. Social posts amplify these outlier claims because they feed a sensational narrative; the available reporting shows these are minority, uncorroborated accounts ^[6].

5. Documentary and photographic evidence

A photograph of Jill and Joe from the 1970s has been reposted online with misleading captions; Jill herself posted a version dated to about 1975–1976 and used it in campaign materials, which fact‑checkers cite to affirm the later timeline ^{[3] [4]}. Newsweek and Snopes emphasize there is no documentary record showing Jill employed as a nanny or babysitter for the Biden children at any relevant time ^{[3] [4]}.

6. Why accuracy matters and the agendas behind the myth

The babysitter story portrays a predatory power imbalance by implying a child‑adult relationship; that framing has political impact. Fact‑checkers point out the claim’s emotional pull and its usefulness to opponents seeking to discredit the Bidens, while reputable sources stress the couple’s consistent account that abolishes the alleged underage dynamic ^{[2] [1] [4]}. Readers should note that social posts driving the claim often lack sourcing and align with partisan aims to generate scandal ^[6].

7. Remaining uncertainties and honest limits of reporting

Some later, non‑mainstream pieces and individual recollections assert different dates but are not corroborated by primary sources cited by mainstream outlets; fact‑checkers treat those as unverified ^{[4] [5]}. Available sources do not mention any payroll records, employment contracts, or contemporaneous hiring documents that would show Jill ever worked as a formal nanny for the Biden household ^{[3] [4]}.

8. Bottom line

Based on fact‑checks and contemporary accounts cited by Reuters, AP, Newsweek, Snopes and PolitiFact, there is no evidence Jill Biden served as a teenage babysitter or nanny for Joe Biden’s children; the couple’s own timeline places their first date in 1975 when Jill was in her early 20s ^{[2] [1] [3] [4] [5]}. Disputed anecdotes exist but remain unverified and do not change the mainstream record ^{[4] [5]}.