Child care schools

Which types of jobs are available for those interested in child care

Child care professionals support children's emotional, physical, social and intellectual growth by providing a safe and nurturing environment when parents are at work or unavailable to personally care for their children. Child care includes providing meals, keeping children clean, solving conflicts, supervising play and teaching a variety of skills to aid in children's development.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), around one-third of child caregivers in the U.S. provide services from their homes and around 29 percent of child care services workers in 2008 worked part-time. Many people with child care careers describe their work as very rewarding.

Because a child care worker's day isn't over until the parents pick up the last child, workdays can be 12 hours long and need to account for the occasional emergency. These jobs also tend to be stressful, which leads to frequent turnover. Additionally, benefits in the industry tend to be minimal and the pay is generally lower than the national average.

For those interested in child care, the following jobs are available:

• Child care worker. Private child care workers, which include babysitters, nannies and au pairs, provide services in a child's home; family child care workers provide services in their own homes. Others are employed by child care centers.
• Child care services administrator
• Preschool teacher and teaching assistant

Formal training required to work in a career related to child care

For most entry-level positions in child care, a high school diploma is sufficient, though each state has its own laws and education and certification requirements, particularly for preschool teachers. Requirements also tend to be more strict for child care centers than for family child care centers.

Child care professionals are encouraged to have CPR and infant CPR certification, as well as training in child abuse detection and prevention. You may want to look into earning your national Child Development Associate or Child Care Professional credentials if you want to maximize your employment opportunities. These designations may require both education and experience. Child care degree programs include certificate programs in child care and associate's and bachelor's degrees in early childhood education.

Generally, certificates and degrees in child care and early childhood education include these types of courses:

• Child growth and development
• Emerging literacy
• Health, safety and nutrition
• Special needs in child care

Directors and administrators of child care centers require the most education, which is typically a bachelor's degree. They must stay current on child care research and developments through in-service and professional development. Family child care providers or those wanting to transition into management can also find business courses in child care center management.

The typical career path of someone interested in child care

The average age of child care services workers in the U.S. was 38 in 2008, which is around 7 years younger than workers of all jobs, according to the BLS.

About half of the workers are pre-school teachers and teaching assistants, around 30 percent are child care workers, and around 4 percent are administrators.

You might start out as a child care worker and then transition into a preschool teacher position. Further advancement into administration requires a child care degree. Some people opt to transition into family child care and run businesses from their homes.

Job outlook and salary information for those interested in child care

Child care, such as preschool, continues to gain in popularity as the benefits of formalized pre-kindergarten education become more widely accepted. Though job projections from the BLS for 2008-2018 account for 11 percent job growth, job prospects should be excellent because this field has high turnover.

In 2009, the BLS reported these U.S. child care services professionals earned the following average annual earnings:

• Child-care workers: $20,940
  • Top-paying employer: Elementary and secondary schools, $23,530
  • Top-paying state: District of Columbia, $24,590

• Pre-school teachers: $27,450

  • Top-paying employer: Elementary and secondary schools, $38,640
  • Top-paying state: New Jersey, $33,770

• Child care services administrators: $48,170

  • Top-paying employer: Elementary and secondary schools: $67,710
  • Top-paying state: New York, $60,150