Childcare Workers
Attend to children at schools, businesses, private households, and childcare institutions. Perform a variety of tasks, such as dressing, feeding, bathing, and overseeing play.
- Median pay
- $34,980
- Doing it now
- 1,010,300
- By 2035
- Down 2%
- Usually needs
- High school diploma or equivalent
a year
across the country
150,300 openings a year
to get in
What the work involves
- Support children's emotional and social development, encouraging understanding of others and positive self-concepts.
- Care for children in institutional setting, such as group homes, nursery schools, private businesses, or schools for people with disabilities.
- Sanitize toys and play equipment.
- Discipline children and recommend or initiate other measures to control behavior, such as caring for own clothing and picking up toys and books.
- Identify signs of emotional or developmental problems in children and bring them to parents' or guardians' attention.
- Observe and monitor children's play activities.
- Keep records on individual children, including daily observations and information about activities, meals served, and medications administered.
What to study
The fields of study the Department of Education links to this occupation, most widely taught first.
- Human Development, Family Studies, and Related ServicesSee 335 colleges that teach it
Who it suits
O*NET scores every occupation on six interest dimensions. This one leans hardest on these three.
Helping and teaching
Creative and expressive
Organised and precise
Careers like this one
- Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education$38,140
- Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education$72,040
- Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education$63,970
- Kindergarten Teachers, Except Special Education$62,680
- Middle School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education$64,370
- Self-Enrichment Teachers$46,800
Where this comes from: the description and the task list are O*NET, which the Department of Labor maintains. Pay, workforce size, outlook and the education normally needed are the Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections programme, 2025 wages and 2025 to 2035 projections. Half of them earn more than $34,980 a year, which means half earn less, and what you would earn depends on where you work and how long you have been doing it. The fields of study come from the National Center for Education Statistics crosswalk.