A childcare worker supervises and cares for babies, toddlers and preschoolers in daycare centers, homes and schools — dressing children, changing diapers, sanitizing toys and keeping records on each child's day.
Childcare worker is also the Bureau of Labor Statistics' name for the occupation (SOC 39-9011); this guide maps that umbrella onto concrete center titles — aide, assistant teacher, lead teacher, floater and substitute — not all of which federal data files under that one code.
What is a childcare worker?
A childcare worker is the umbrella term for the people who supervise and care for young children in daycare centers, private households, schools and other early-childhood settings.
In federal statistics the name belongs to one specific occupation — childcare workers, SOC 39-9011, tracked by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
The next section maps that umbrella onto the concrete titles centers hire under.
The occupation is large.
BLS's Occupational Outlook Handbook counts 1,010,300 childcare worker jobs in 2025.
The Current Population Survey annual averages — a different BLS survey, so the figure is not interchangeable with the first — count 1,106,000 employed childcare workers in 2025, 93.2% of them women.
Everyday phrases point at the same occupation: O*NET lists 'Daycare Worker' and 'Childcare Provider' among the reported job titles for childcare workers (39-9011), alongside 'Daycare Teacher', 'Infant Teacher' and 'Toddler Teacher'.
Because one federal code collects titles that centers advertise separately, the mapping takes a section of its own.
What job titles count as childcare workers?
Center staffing rosters use concrete titles.
These are the ones this guide maps to the generic occupation — though, as the paragraphs below show, federal data does not file every one of them under 39-9011:
- Teacher aide and assistant teacher — support roles that work alongside a lead teacher in the classroom.
- Lead teacher — also written as daycare teacher, infant teacher or toddler teacher, titles O*NET lists under this occupation; responsible for a classroom, its activities and its records.
- Floater — a teacher without a home room who moves between classrooms as needed.
- Substitute — fills in for a set period, from a single day to a long-term absence.
Federal statistics slice these titles more than one way.
O*NET, the federal occupational database, lists 'Daycare Teacher', 'Infant Teacher' and 'Toddler Teacher' among the reported job titles for childcare workers (39-9011).
It also lists 'Pre-Kindergarten Teacher', 'Montessori Preschool Teacher', 'Infant Teacher' and 'Toddler Teacher' under preschool teachers (25-2011).
Job title alone does not determine the federal code.
Aide titles are a third slice.
O*NET lists 'Preschool Aide', 'Teacher Aide', 'Paraprofessional' and 'Paraeducator' under teaching assistants (25-9042), an occupation BLS reports was 72% local elementary and secondary school staff in 2025 — while childcare-center assistant teachers are usually counted as childcare workers (39-9011).
Inside a licensed childcare center, an aide's qualifications, minimum working age and whether the aide counts toward the staff-to-child ratio are set by the state child care licensing agency, not by any federal occupational code.
The mapping matters when you look up numbers.
Wage tables, outlook projections and staffing studies are published by occupational code, not by the title on your name badge, so check which code a source is using before you trust the figure for your role.
What does a childcare worker do?
The through-line of the job is hands-on care and supervision.
O*NET's task list for childcare workers includes keeping records on individual children — daily observations, activities, meals served, medications given — dressing children and changing diapers, sanitizing toys, and communicating with parents about daily activities and behaviors.
Around that core, the O*NET record itself sketches the day — activities, meals served, medications administered — a rhythm of close supervision and constant note-keeping.
Classrooms split that work: the lead teacher runs the room, aides and assistants work alongside the lead, and floaters move in wherever a room needs another pair of hands.
O*NET lists monitoring, active listening, critical thinking, speaking, active learning, learning strategies, reading comprehension and writing as essential skills for the occupation.
It is a job of constant contact: in O*NET's work-context data, 83% of childcare workers reported constant contact with others and 51% reported working very close to others.
Hours follow the program.
BLS notes childcare centers are usually open year round with long hours, and some centers use full-time and part-time staff on staggered shifts to cover the whole day; BLS also notes part-time work and irregular hours are common in this occupation.
Where do childcare workers work?
BLS breaks the occupation down by industry for 2025:
- Child daycare services — 29%. The center world: infant rooms through pre-K, before- and after-school programs, and the independent and franchise centers a childcare job board lists.
- Self-employed workers — 24%. Childcare workers who work for themselves rather than for a center.
- Private households — 17%. Care based inside a family's home.
- Local elementary and secondary schools — 9%. School-based programs.
- Religious, grantmaking, civic and similar organizations — 8%. The industry bucket that includes faith-based centers.
Those percentages describe the occupation as a whole in 2025; they are not a promise about any one city or opening.
A center can post for any of the age rooms — infant, toddler, preschool, pre-K — plus floaters and substitutes, so one employer can carry several different titles at once.
How do you become a childcare worker?
Entry does not run through one national checklist.
BLS lists the typical entry-level education for childcare workers as a high school diploma or equivalent — its statistical label for the occupation, not a legal minimum — and notes that education requirements vary: some states require a high school diploma or equivalent for entry-level positions, while others have no education requirement.
Hiring at a licensed program runs through the state's licensing rules, and BLS notes childcare staff often must pass a background check, have a complete record of immunizations, and meet a minimum training requirement.
At licensed, regulated or registered providers, federal CCDF rules (45 CFR 98.43) require a comprehensive background check for every staff member.
BLS also notes some states require staff to have CPR and first aid certification.
When a state requires a nationally recognized credential, BLS says it is most often the Child Development Associate (CDA), renewed every 3 years.
The CDA itself is built on 120 hours of formal early childhood education training and 480 hours of professional work experience with the setting's age group, earned within 3 years before applying.
There is also an earn-while-you-learn route: O*NET lists 'Child Care Development Specialist' as a DOL-approved Registered Apprenticeship title for this occupation.
A workable path, then: start in an aide or assistant role, complete the training and background check your state and employer require, log experience with the age group you want to teach, and add a credential such as the CDA once you have the required hours behind you.
Requirements vary by state
How much do childcare workers make?
BLS reports a May 2025 median for childcare workers (SOC 39-9011) of $34,980 per year, or $16.82 per hour.
The range is wide.
In May 2025, the lowest 10 percent of childcare workers earned less than $11.66 an hour, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $22.12.
Those cutoffs describe the spread of the whole occupation — the low end is not an entry-level wage and the high end is not a cap for any particular role.
Where you work moves the number.
May 2025 median hourly wages for childcare workers were $18.15 in local elementary and secondary schools, $16.43 in child daycare services, and $16.23 in religious, grantmaking, civic and similar organizations.
These are occupation-wide medians for the whole country — not a specific title, center or state.
The childcare worker salary page breaks the same BLS occupation (SOC 39-9011) out by state, so you can benchmark your area before you talk pay with a center.
Find childcare worker jobs
Set expectations honestly: BLS projects employment of childcare workers to decline 2% from 2025 to 2035.
But the occupation is large — 1,010,300 jobs in 2025 — and BLS projects 150,300 openings each year, on average, over the decade, all from replacement needs.
Those are replacement needs in the literal sense: seats that open as current workers leave the occupation.
For an applicant, replacement-driven hiring means openings keep appearing as the existing workforce moves on.
The aide and assistant roles above are entry points into the classroom, and hours with a specific age group can count toward the CDA's 480 hours of professional work experience if they fall within the 3 years before you apply, as described above.
When you apply, lead with your time in a classroom — paid or practicum — plus any training hours and certifications you already hold, and expect a background check as part of hiring at a licensed program, per the federal and state rules above.
Ready to look?
Browse childcare worker jobs on ChildcareHires — every listing is an early-education role at a center or school.
Career information, not licensing or legal advice. Background checks follow federal CCDF rules (45 CFR 98.43), and states may add disqualifying crimes; training and credential requirements are set by your state's child care licensing agency — confirm current rules there before you apply or hire.