Childcare Workers
Sign In
OverviewSalaryAboutEducationWhere are the jobsEmploymentGenderRace/Origin
Overview
Attend to children at schools, businesses, private households, and childcare institutions. Perform a variety of tasks, such as dressing, feeding, bathing, and overseeing play.
Explore Pathways
Titles for this career often contain these words
CareChildAttendantDayDaycareWorkerProviderChildcareAideTeacherSchoolNurseryAssistantInfantAfterCaregiverChildren'sHomeToddlerMotherSpecialistSitterMonitorFamilyManagerCoordinatorCounselorBabyBabysitterBeforeBoardingDevelopmentLifeChild'sNurseInstitutionClassroomHouseholdRoomNannyNursemaidHelperSupervisorParent
Share
Fewer details
Responsibilities and activities

Childcare workers typically do the following:

  • Supervise and monitor the safety of children
  • Prepare and organize mealtimes and snacks for children
  • Help children keep good hygiene
  • Change the diapers of infants and toddlers
  • Organize activities or implement a curriculum that allows children to learn about the world and explore their interests
  • Develop schedules and routines to ensure that children have enough physical activity, rest, and playtime
  • Watch for signs of emotional or developmental problems in children and bring potential problems to the attention of parents or guardians
  • Keep records of children’s progress, routines, and interests

Childcare workers read and play with babies and toddlers to introduce basic concepts. For example, they teach them how to share and take turns by playing games with other children.

Childcare workers help preschool-age children prepare for kindergarten. Young children learn from playing, questioning, and experimenting. Childcare workers use play and other instructional techniques to help children’s development. For example, they may use storytelling and rhyming games to teach language and vocabulary. They may help improve children’s social skills by having them work together to build something in a sandbox. Or they may teach about numbers by having children count when building with blocks. They also involve children in creative activities, such as art, dance, and music.

Childcare workers may also watch school-age children before and after school. They often help these children with their homework and may take them to afterschool activities, such as sports practices and club meetings.

During the summer, when children are out of school, childcare workers may watch older children as well as younger ones while the parents are at work.

The following are examples of types of childcare workers:

Childcare center workers work in facilities that include programs offering Head Start and Early Head Start. They often take a team-based approach and may work with preschool teachers and teacher assistants to teach children through a structured curriculum. They prepare daily and long-term schedules of activities to stimulate and educate the children in their care. They also monitor and keep records of the children’s progress.

Family childcare providers run a business out of their own homes to care for children during standard working hours. They need to ensure that their homes and all staff they employ meet the regulations for family childcare providers. They also prepare contracts that set rates of pay, when payment can be expected, and the number of hours children can be in care. Furthermore, they establish policies such as whether sick children can be in their care, who can pick children up, and how behavioral issues will be dealt with. Family childcare providers may market their services to prospective families.

Nannies work in the homes of the families whose children they care for. Most often, they work full time for one family. They may be responsible for driving children to school, appointments, or afterschool activities. Some live in the homes of the families employing them.

Salary
Median salary: $25,460 annually
Half of those employed in this career earn between $20,900 and $30,750.
$25K$0$10K$20K$30K$40K
Context: Median Salary
How do salaries for this career compare to other jobs' salaries?
Fewer details
Salary growth for childcare workers
Is this job likely to reward you for sticking with it through pay raises and promotions? The higher a job’s “experience quotient,” the more you are likely to get as you stay there.
Experience quotient percentile
Take a minute to look at how much you might expect your salary to increase with each five years' experience, as well as how the numbers working at each age change. Does this seem to be a job for the young or the old, or could it be a career offering steady salary growth for many years?
Salary distribution
$21K$22K$22K$22K$15K$21K$23K$21K$21K$0$10K$20K$30K$40K$50K20-2425-2930-3435-3940-4445-4950-5455-5960-64
Number employed
020K40K60K80K100K20-2425-2930-3435-3940-4445-4950-5455-5960-64
About Childcare Workers
How do benefits for this career compare to other jobs? The availability of health care, especially employer provided health care, and pension plans can add significantly to the value of compensation you receive in a career. These charts compare how this career compares to other careers with regard to health care and pension plans.
Employee has health insurance
Employer is providing health insurance
Employer-provided pension plan is available
Worker concerns
Some jobs are more stressful than others, and some are just plain dangerous. The following list gives the percentages of childcare workers who report hazardous or difficult situations typically occurring at least once a week.
  • Responsible for Others' Health (59%)
  • Consequence of Error (57%)
  • High Conflict Frequency (50%)
  • Time Pressure (38%)
  • Unpleasant or Angry People (35%)
SOURCES:
Fewer details
Personality and skills
Can you see yourself in the ranks of Childcare Workers? Here are the skills and traits that could lead to success.
Communication skills
Childcare workers need good speaking skills to provide direction or information effectively and good listening skills to understand parents’ instructions.
Decision-making skills
Good judgment is necessary for childcare workers so they can respond to emergencies or difficult situations.
Interpersonal skills
Childcare workers need to work well with people in order to develop good relationships with parents, children, and colleagues.
Patience
Childcare workers need to be able to respond calmly to overwhelming and difficult situations.
Physical stamina
Working with children can be physically demanding, so childcare workers should have a lot of energy.
Injury and Illness
About 40 childcare workers become injured or ill for every 10,000 workers, making this job more dangerous than 64% of other careers. The most common specific illnesses or injuries are detailed following.
All multiple traumatic injuries
Soreness and pain
Bruises and contusions
Education pathways to this career
Education attained by childcare workers
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), childcare workers typically hold a high school diploma or equivalent.
Sometimes the typical education identified by the BLS differs a bit from the reality of the how much education current workers actually have. The donut shows the education level held by people currently working as childcare workers as reported in responses to the American Community Survey.
Details: Education and training recommended for childcare workers

Childcare workers’ education requirements vary. Some states require these workers to have a high school diploma or equivalent, but others do not have any education requirements for entry-level positions. Employers often prefer to hire workers who have at least a high school diploma. However, workers with postsecondary education or an early childhood education credential may qualify for higher level positions.

Childcare workers in Head Start and Early Head Start programs must meet specific education and certification requirements, which vary by work setting and job title.

States do not regulate educational requirements for nannies. However, some employers may prefer to hire workers with at least some formal instruction in childhood education or a related field, particularly when they will be hired as full-time nannies.

Details: Licensing and certification recommended for childcare workers

Many states require childcare centers, including those in private homes, to be licensed. To qualify for licensure, staff often must pass a background check, have a complete record of immunizations, and meet a minimum training requirement. Some states require staff to have certifications in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and first aid.

Some states and employers require childcare workers to have a nationally recognized credential. Most often, states require the Child Development Associate (CDA) credential offered by the Council for Professional Recognition. Obtaining the CDA credential requires coursework, experience in the field, and a period during which the applicant is observed while working with children. The CDA credential must be renewed every 3 years.

Other organizations, such as The National Association for Family Child Care (NAFCC) may also offer optional accreditation.

Education level of Childcare Workers
Only 18% of childcare workers have a bachelor's degree or higher.
Education attained by childcare workers
None
High School
Some College
Associate's Degree
Bachelor's Degree
Master's Degree
Professional Degree
Doctorate
Fewer details
Programs recommended by the Department of Education
The Department of Education recommends the following college degree programs as preparation for this career. You can click a program row to learn more about the program and explore a list of schools that offer the program.
Number of degrees awarded in 2018
Education
Education level of awarded degrees
Assoc./Cert.
Bachelor's
Graduate
Gender
Gender of graduates
Men
Women
Race/Origin
Race/origin of graduates
White
Minority
International
Where are the jobs
State-by-state employment numbers
Some careers tend to be centered in specific parts of the country. For example, most jobs in fashion are in New York or California. Let's see if your dream job is easy to find in your dream location! We have a few choices for viewing the data that can help you get a full employment picture.
Select a state to see local area details
Number of Childcare Workers per 1,000 workers (ACS)
AKMEWIVTNHWAIDMTNDMNILMINYMAORUTWYSDIAINOHPANJCTRICANVCONEMOKYWVVAMDDEAZNMKSARTNNCSCDCOKLAMSALGAHITXFLPR
Fewer details
Job density versus job count
Which states hire the most childcare workers? We wonder if that's a fair question since states come in all sizes, so instead let's start with the question of which states have the highest density of people working as childcare workers. You can choose to view the number of jobs per state if you prefer.
Salaries by state
Let's get a feel for where childcare workers earn the highest salaries. There are several choices for which data we consider and how we view that data, and each can lead to different conclusions, so please read on...
Median salary versus state ratio
We use two methods to compare salaries across states:
  • In-state comparisons: the ratio of median (middle) salaries for childcare workers compared to the median salary for all people working in each state, or
  • Median salary: the unaltered median salaries for childcare workers.
We hope the ratio allows perspective about how salaries may compare to the regional cost-of-living.
The darkest shading corresponds to states in which childcare workers earn the highest salary when compared to other jobs in the state. We think this figure might be a better indicator than the actual salary for your buying power as a state resident.
Select a state to see local area details
Location-adjusted median salary for Childcare Workers (ACS)
AKMEWIVTNHWAIDMTNDMNILMINYMAORUTWYSDIAINOHPANJCTRICANVCONEMOKYWVVAMDDEAZNMKSARTNNCSCDCOKLAMSALGAHITXFLPR
Employment
48% of Childcare workers are working part time.
We’ve found that some jobs have a huge number of part-time workers, and typically that is because they are unable to find full-time work or the job itself can’t provide full-time hours. With 48% part-time workers, this occupation has a higher percentage of part-time workers than 94% of careers.
48%0%20%40%60%80%100%
Employer types
This donut shares the break-down of workers by employer type, giving us a picture of what employers most typically hire for this career.
Employers of undefined (ACS)
Private for-profit
Private not-for-profit
Local government
State government
Federal government
Self-employed incorporated
Self-employed not incorporated
Working without pay
Fewer details
Distribution: Salaries of childcare workers by type of employer
Here are the salary distributions based on employer type.
$20K$20K$21K$21K$25K$19K$25K$22K$10K$0$20,000$40,000$60,000$80,000Working without paySelf-employed not incorporatedSelf-employed incorporatedFederal governmentState governmentLocal governmentPrivate not-for-profitPrivate for-profitAll
Gender
Childcare workers and gender
With 95% women, this occupation has a higher percentage of women than 99% of careers.
Gender of Childcare workers
Men (5%)
Women (95%)
Distribution: salaries by gender
Does gender greatly influence your salary in this career? The closer the bars are, the less discrepancy there is.
$20K$23K$0$100K$200K$300KWomenMen
We only include salary data when the survey error is less than 20%, so you may see only partial information for some categories.
Fewer details
Context: Women in the workforce
How does this career compare to other careers with regard to the percentage of women in the career.
95%0%20%40%60%80%100%
Context: Salary inequity
The median salary for all full-time male workers in the US exceeds the full-time median salary for women by 19%. The situation is a little better for childcare workers, with the median salary for men 15% higher than the median salary for women.
15%0%20%40%60%80%100%
Race/Origin
Race and origin of Childcare workers
This donut shows the distribution of race and origin among those employed as Childcare workers.
Race/origin of childcare workers
White (67% )
Black (18% )
Other (8% )
Asian (3% )
Multiracial (2% )
Hispanic (1% )
American Indian (1% )
Pacific Islander (0% )
Distribution: salaries by race/origin
Some careers might have a pay disparity based on race or origin, the closer the below bars are the less of a discrepancy is present.
$17K$19K$20K$20K$20K$21K$21K$0$10K$20K$30K$40K$50KAmerican IndianOtherWhiteHispanicMultiracialAsianBlack
We only include salary data when the survey error is less than 20%, so you may see only partial information for some categories.