Personal Care and Service · Holland code SAC

Nannies

Care for children in private households and provide support and expertise to parents in satisfying children's physical, emotional, intellectual, and social needs. Duties may include meal planning and preparation, laundry and clothing care, organization of play activities and outings, discipline, intellectual stimulation, language activities, and transportation.

Also called: Family Assistant, House Manager, Household Manager, Nanny, Family Manager, Governess, Special Needs Nanny, Travel Nanny.

O*NET 39-9011.01

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); 60% 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.

Instruct children in safe behavior, such as seeking adult assistance when crossing the street and avoiding contact with unsafe objects.
Remove hazards and develop appropriate boundaries and rules to create a safe environment for children.
Perform first aid or cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) when required.
Instruct and assist children in the development of health and personal habits, such as eating, resting, and toilet behavior.
Regulate children's rest periods and nap schedules.
Teach and perform age-appropriate activities, such as lap play, reading, and arts and crafts, to encourage intellectual development of children.
Help prepare and serve nutritionally balanced meals and snacks for children.
Model appropriate social behaviors and encourage concern for others to cultivate development of interpersonal relationships and communication skills.

Skills and knowledge it leans on

Skills

Active Listening3.9 / 5
Monitoring3.9 / 5
Speaking3.8 / 5
Critical Thinking3.6 / 5
Learning Strategies3.3 / 5
Reading Comprehension3.0 / 5

Knowledge areas

English Language3.8 / 5
Customer and Personal Service3.6 / 5
Psychology3.4 / 5
Education and Training3.3 / 5
Public Safety and Security3.3 / 5
Sociology and Anthropology2.7 / 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.

Realistic32
Investigative20
Artistic42
Social88
Enterprising28
Conventional39

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
Montessori school teacher · DE Lehrkraft für Montessori-Schulen · FR éducateur Montessori/éducatrice Montessori
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
Early education and childcare assistants (6111)119,400 employed
Childminders (6114)42,900 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.

Median annual earnings, Service and sales workers, by country
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).

Is it a fit for you?

Interest is one input, alongside ability, pay and what is hiring near you. The career interests test takes about thirteen minutes and ranks occupations by how closely their profile matches yours.

Take the career interests test