What is a Childcare Worker?
Childcare Worker Example Attend to children at schools, businesses, private households, and childcare institutions. Perform a variety of tasks, such as dressing, feeding, bathing, and overseeing play.
Life As a Childcare Worker
- Sterilize bottles and prepare formulas.
- Care for children in institutional setting, such as group homes, nursery schools, private businesses, or schools for the handicapped.
- Regulate children’s rest periods.
- Organize and participate in recreational activities and outings, such as games and field trips.
- Keep records on individual children, including daily observations and information about activities, meals served, and medications administered.
- Perform general administrative tasks, such as taking attendance, editing internal paperwork, and making phone calls.
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Childcare Worker Needed Skills
These are the skills Childcare Workers say are the most useful in their careers:
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.
Related Job Titles
- Child Care Sitter
- Caregiver
- Children’s Aide
- Playground Attendant
- Childcare Aide
What Kind of Childcare Worker Job Opportunities Are There?
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. Due to new job openings and attrition, there will be an average of 189,100 job openings in this field each year.

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.
What is the Average Salary of a Childcare Worker
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 to Become a Childcare Worker
Learn what Childcare Worker education requirements there are.

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

Where do Childcare Workers Work?

The table below shows some of the most common industries where those employed in this career field work.

Related Careers
Career changers with experience as a Childcare Worker sometimes find work in one of the following fields:
References:
Image Credit: Jsonin via Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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