Career Explorer Personal care
Changing shape
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.
In the middle of the pack: more resilient than 47% of the 831 careers we score. AI exposure is moderate (the Bureau of Labor Statistics rates it moderate), and US jobs are projected to change by -2.0% by 2035, expected to shrink. The work leans on emotional intelligence and creative vision.
AI can do many of the tasks, and hiring is expected to grow slower than average or to shrink. The job is likely to change, so build the human parts of it.
- Median pay (2025)
- $34,980
- Job growth to 2035
- -2.0%
- Openings a year
- 150,000
- People doing it (2025)
- 1.0 million
- Usual route in
- High school diploma, then short on-the-job training
Where people already use AI for this work
- Teach life skills
- Advise others on educational or vocational matters
- Prepare foods or beverages
From Microsoft Research, Working with AI (2025).
Work AI rarely helps with
- Assist individuals with special needs
- Clean tools, equipment, facilities, or work areas
- Train others on health or medical topics
What the work looks like
- 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.
From O*NET 31.0, US Department of Labor.
Careers using similar strengths, with a stronger outlook
- First-line supervisors of entertainment and recreation workers, except gambling servicesGrows with AI, Index 57, +5.3%
- Recreation workersHuman edge, growing, Index 87, +4.3%
- Animal trainersHuman edge, growing, Index 94, +4.2%
- Residential advisorsGrows with AI, Index 63, +3.5%
Also known as: Child Care Worker, Childcare Provider, Infant Teacher, Toddler Teacher, Family Assistant, House Manager, Household Manager, Nanny.
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Sources: US Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections 2025 to 2035; O*NET 31.0; Microsoft Research (2025); Anthropic Economic Index (2026); Eloundou and colleagues (Science, 2024); Felten, Raj and Seamans (2023). How we score. Updated 12 October 2026.