What Do Childcare Worker Do?
Job Description & Duties Attend to children at schools, businesses, private households, and childcare institutions. Perform a variety of tasks, such as dressing, feeding, bathing, and overseeing play.
List of Childcare Worker Job Duties
- Keep records on individual children, including daily observations and information about activities, meals served, and medications administered.
- Create developmentally appropriate lesson plans.
- Organize and store toys and materials to ensure order in activity areas.
- Maintain a safe play environment.
- Instruct children in health and personal habits, such as eating, resting, and toilet habits.
- Perform general administrative tasks, such as taking attendance, editing internal paperwork, and making phone calls.
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Skills Needed to be a Childcare Worker
Childcare Workers state the following job skills are important in their day-to-day work.
Monitoring: Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
Service Orientation: Actively looking for ways to help people.
Social Perceptiveness: Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
Active Listening: Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
Speaking: Talking to others to convey information effectively.
Critical Thinking: Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
Types of Childcare Worker
- Au Pair
- Childcare Provider
- Playground Supervisor
- Babysitter
- Mother’s Helper
Job Outlook for Childcare Workers
In the United States, there were 1,216,600 jobs for Childcare Worker in 2016. New jobs are being produced at a rate of 6.9% which is above the national average. The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts 84,300 new jobs for Childcare Worker by 2026. The BLS estimates 189,100 yearly job openings in this field.

The states with the most job growth for Childcare Worker are Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. Watch out if you plan on working in Wyoming, Maine, or Vermont. These states have the worst job growth for this type of profession.
Average Childcare Workers Salary
The typical yearly salary for Childcare Workers is somewhere between $17,750 and $34,430.

Childcare Workers who work in District of Columbia, Massachusetts, or Vermont, make the highest salaries.
Below is a list of the median annual salaries for Childcare Workers in different U.S. states.
State | Annual Mean Salary |
---|---|
Alabama | $19,920 |
Alaska | $27,900 |
Arizona | $25,160 |
Arkansas | $20,900 |
California | $28,630 |
Colorado | $28,770 |
Connecticut | $27,400 |
Delaware | $22,300 |
District of Columbia | $33,110 |
Florida | $23,590 |
Georgia | $21,810 |
Hawaii | $26,090 |
Idaho | $21,740 |
Illinois | $24,250 |
Indiana | $21,620 |
Iowa | $21,540 |
Kansas | $20,650 |
Kentucky | $21,540 |
Louisiana | $19,820 |
Maine | $25,010 |
Maryland | $25,980 |
Massachusetts | $30,090 |
Michigan | $23,670 |
Minnesota | $25,820 |
Mississippi | $19,310 |
Missouri | $23,490 |
Montana | $22,380 |
Nebraska | $23,980 |
Nevada | $22,280 |
New Hampshire | $23,940 |
New Jersey | $26,450 |
New Mexico | $21,940 |
New York | $28,820 |
North Carolina | $22,940 |
North Dakota | $25,190 |
Ohio | $22,740 |
Oklahoma | $20,440 |
Oregon | $26,740 |
Pennsylvania | $22,920 |
Rhode Island | $27,560 |
South Carolina | $21,030 |
South Dakota | $21,330 |
Tennessee | $21,270 |
Texas | $22,150 |
Utah | $22,420 |
Vermont | $29,430 |
Virginia | $24,620 |
Washington | $29,430 |
West Virginia | $21,490 |
Wisconsin | $22,630 |
Wyoming | $24,840 |
What Tools do Childcare Workers Use?
Although they’re not necessarily needed for all jobs, the following technologies are used by many Childcare Workers:
- Microsoft Word
- Web browser software
- Scheduling software
- Educational software
How do I Become a Childcare Worker?
Education needed to be a Childcare Worker:

What work experience do I need to become a Childcare Worker?

Childcare Workers Sector

The table below shows the approximate number of Childcare Workers employed by various industries.

You May Also Be Interested In…
Are you already one of the many Childcare Worker in the United States? If you’re thinking about changing careers, these fields are worth exploring:
References:
Image Credit: Jsonin via Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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