Career
Childcare workers
Care for young children while parents work.
$34,980
Median pay
-2.0%
Job growth, 2025–35
150,300
Openings a year
High school diploma or equivalent
Typical education
None required
Typical time after high school
Here's what you actually need to know.
The work
What people in this job do
- Maintain a safe play environment.
- Observe and monitor children's play activities.
- Communicate with children's parents or guardians about daily activities, behaviors, and related issues.
- 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.
The outlook
How the forecast changed this year
The deeper question
What kind of person does this path ask you to become?
What this work centers on
O*NET interest profile, scored 1–7.
The work
Do you want most of your days spent on people & care, then creation & expression?
Responsibility
Are you willing to be the one responsible for this?
“Maintain a safe play environment.”
Development
What would you need to build over the next 5–10 years?
Monitoring, Service Orientation, Social Perceptiveness, Coordination.
Trade-offs
What does it ask of you in exchange?
No degree beyond high school, though short-term on-the-job training is typical, for a median of $34,980 a year and 150,300 openings nationally each year.
Paths in
Degrees that lead here
- Human Development and Family StudiesSee the degree →
- Child DevelopmentCIP 19.0706
- Child Care Provider/AssistantCIP 19.0709
- Early Childhood and Family StudiesCIP 19.0711
Paths across
Careers that use similar skills
- Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education$38,140 · +4.5%
- Nannies
- Personal Care Aides
- Kindergarten Teachers, Except Special Education$62,680 · -0.3%
- Home Health Aides
Ask anything about this career.
“Would this make sense if I don't want to sit at a desk all day?” Answers will come from the sources on this page, with citations. Coming soon.
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Sources
- BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34 (archived), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- O*NET 31.0 Database (August 2026), National Center for O*NET Development / U.S. Department of Labor. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 Crosswalk, NCES and BLS. Retrieved 2026-10-01.