Personal Care and Service · Holland code SAC
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.
Also called: Child Care Worker, Childcare Provider, Infant Teacher, Toddler Teacher, Caregiver, Child Caregiver, Childcare Worker, Daycare Teacher.
O*NET 39-9011.00
At a glance
- US median annual pay
- $34,980
- Middle half earn $29,360 to $38,570. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
- Most common education
- High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED)
- 39% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
- Preparation needed
- Job Zone 2 of 5
- Some preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.
- US employment outlook, 2024 to 2034
- -3% · Decline
- 991,600 jobs in 2024, projected 962,400. BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, which groups this with similar roles as "Childcare workers".
What the work involves
The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.
- 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.
- Sanitize toys and play equipment.
- Dress children and change diapers.
- Keep records on individual children, including daily observations and information about activities, meals served, and medications administered.
Skills and knowledge it leans on
Skills
- Monitoring3.5 / 5
- Active Listening3.1 / 5
- Speaking3.1 / 5
- Critical Thinking3.1 / 5
- Reading Comprehension3.0 / 5
- Writing3.0 / 5
Knowledge areas
- Customer and Personal Service3.7 / 5
- English Language3.5 / 5
- Education and Training3.4 / 5
- Public Safety and Security3.2 / 5
- Psychology3.0 / 5
- Administration and Management2.9 / 5
Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.
Who tends to enjoy it
How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.
- Realistic35
- Investigative8
- Artistic43
- Social86
- Enterprising29
- Conventional41
The same work abroad
Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.
European occupation titles (ESCO)
- child care coordinator · DE Koordinator für Kinderbetreuungsdienste/Koordinatorin für Kinderbetreuungsdienste · FR responsable d'accueil de loisirs
- child day care centre manager · DE Leiter einer Kindertagesstätte/Leiterin einer Kindertagesstätte · FR responsable structure d'accueil pour enfants
- residential childcare worker · DE Sozialbetreuer in Betreuungseinrichtung für Kinder mit Behinderung/Sozialbetreuerin in Betreuungseinrichtung für Kinder mit Behinderung · FR assistant de vie auprès d’enfants handicapés/assistante de vie auprès d’enfants handicapés
- activity leader · DE Animateur/Animateurin · FR animateur d’accueil de loisirs en centre de loisirs/animatrice d’accueil de loisirs en centre de loisirs
- child care worker · DE Kinderbetreuer/Kinderbetreuerin · FR éducateur en petite enfance/éducatrice en petite enfance
- au pair · DE Au-pair · FR employé au pair/employée au pair
Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)
- Early education and childcare practitioners (3232)94,000 employed
- Childminders (6114)42,900 employed
- Nannies and au pairs (6116)22,400 employed
Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.
Pay across Europe, for the whole group
Median annual earnings of all employees in “Service and sales workers”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.
| Country | Median pay |
|---|---|
| Belgium | €32,957 |
| Sweden | €32,596 |
| Netherlands | €29,198 |
| Austria | €29,068 |
| Germany | €27,471 |
| Ireland | €26,978 |
| Italy | €24,995 |
| France | €24,971 |
| Spain | €18,303 |
| Portugal | €10,656 |
| Poland | €7,579 |
Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.
Exposure to AI
This occupation sits in the middle third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of -0.38. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.
Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.
Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (39-9011).
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