Working in childcare may not be for everyone, but for those who do enjoy it, the benefits are not lacking. To give you an idea of what you may enjoy when getting into childcare, here are 4 benefits of working in the field of childcare. 

The four benefits of working in childcare are: 

1. Consistent work
2. Serving as a role model 
3. A creative and fun work environment 
4. A set schedule

 

Consistent Work

A massive part of succeeding in business is, as we all know it, supply and demand. If there is no demand for the service or goods you are offering, then succeeding in that business is going to be near to impossible. The good thing about childcare however is that the demand is always going to be there as people continue having children. 

Kids aren’t going anywhere, so as long as people continuing having them, parents are going to need childcare.  This means that you as a childcare worker are never going to have to worry about a lack of potential work. This is an advantage that not every career enjoys. There are plenty of careers that may not exist in the next couple of decades, but it’s fair to say that childcare is not one of them.

• What does the job outlook of childcare workers look like? 

As of the most recent data collected by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are currently about half a million jobs in childcare in the US. It has been estimated that the childcare field will see job growth of roughly 2% over the next decade. While these numbers may seem low, as they are compared to some other careers or fields, it is important to know that roughly 25% of American children are in some form of childcare system. This means that there are in fact a massive number of children in childcare facilities. 

This is great for you as a potential childcare worker because this means that is some wiggle room in terms of expanding childcare service. With 25% of American children spending time in childcare centers, there are always more jobs in the field that can be created, especially if you were interested in opening your childcare center. 

 

Serving as a Role Model

When working with kids, one thing that people often think of is serving as a role model. Most people view this as a sort of responsibility that you have to do no matter what whether you want to or not.  But the truth is serving as a role model does not have to seem like a chore. Instead, it can be a great experience and is often one of the most rewarding aspects of working in childcare for many people. Serving as a role model means that you get to see the children you care for slowly take after you and the example that you are setting.  Now, you of course are more than likely not going to be their only role model as parents more often fill this position as well. 

But that doesn’t take away from the impact that you can have on the children you are caring for. The longer you work with the specific children, the more you’ll slowly see a difference as they grow older and begin developing into their own person, which is an experience that can be incredibly rewarding. 

• What are some ways that children may model after you once they see you as a role model?

1.Your Sense of Humor

While this may not be your top answer to this question, it is one of the most common ways in which children will model themselves after caregivers. Let’s be honest, children have to model their sense of humor after someone, and while they will most likely model their humor after multiple different people, you can still pick out which aspect comes from you.  Seeing this impact on the way children form humor can be incredible and heartwarming as you know you made a difference in how they see the world. 

2. Your manners 

At some point in their development, children begin understanding that different situations call for different behaviors. This means that eventually, the children you care for may begin acting differently around you and the environment that you put them in than they do in other situations. 

It’s likely that these children will begin modeling the way they act in the environment that you care for them in after you, especially the manners that you use.  If when you are caring for them you consistently say please and thank you, the children you care for will likelyThese children will likely begin doing the same, seeing that is the way they should act. 

3. Their interactions with others

Once again, children learn that different situations call for different behavior. This includes how they act around others. Different situations will result in them acting a certain way around others. You may begin to notice that after a while the children under your care begin interacting with others the same way or at least in a similar way that you do. This can be very rewarding for many people knowing that they are a positive influence as to how children behave and interact with others!

A Creative and Fun Work Environment

Working in a daycare center is nothing like an office job. While yes there may be some paperwork that reminds you of working an office job, the environment is totally different. 

Not only in childcare do you not dress up to the extent that they do in an office job, as instead, you can pretty much wear whatever you’re comfortable in, but the professionalism aspect is completely different. When working in childcare, you are spending most of your day around children, which means that most of the time you are working professionalism is not going to be at the forefront of your mind. 

For many people, this is a great benefit as professionalism is often seen as tedious, especially for the younger generations. On top of that, working in a childcare setting means you get to be as creative as you want as you play with children who are working on expressing their own creativity. This often means you’ll spend time playing games with them, working on different arts and crafts, and overall just spending time doing things that kids enjoy doing. Meanwhile, you’re doing all of this without sitting at a desk all day working on a computer. 

As a result, childcare workers generally enjoy working much more than those of other professionals simply because of the fun and creative work environment that working with children brings!

Learn what makes a daycare unique.

A Set Schedule

Unlike many others businesses, especially those that are considered to be office jobs, childcare centers will almost always still have their set schedule. What I mean by this is that childcare centers have set hours that they very rarely, if ever, expand from. 

Because of this, you won’t be expected to work overtime and in most cases childcare centers are only open during the week, leaving your weekends free. This however is not the case for other careers which often require that you put in overtime, work odd hours, and are available on weekends. 

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  What does the schedule for a childcare center usually look like?

Most childcare centers will open their doors at 7 am to give parents time to drop their kids of before work and will close at about 6 pm to give them a chance to pick their children up. 

Because childcare centers are often open 11 hours a day, most childcare workers won’t the entire time that a center is open for a day, instead putting in 8 hours or having others take over at some point. If they do stay for the entire day, however, they might not work the entire week, like 11 hours a day 5 days a week would be 55 hours. 

This means that some childcare workers have some weekdays off and still can work for 40 hours a week.

 

Related Questions: 

What are the requirements for being a childcare worker?

Although it may vary slightly by state, most states only require that childcare workers have a high school diploma or equivalent and be at least 18 years old. Outside of this, some states may require that you take a training course before you begin working in childcare 

If you are interested in working in childcare, you do not need a college degree but some program directors do have degrees in early childhood education. So getting a job in childcare can be fairly easy for nearly anyone!

Are childcare workers paid well?

Because of the lack of requirements to work in childcare, the average salary for a childcare worker in the US is only about $10.50 an hour. While this may not be a lot of money, most people working in childcare are young adults or older retirees where money may not be as important in their stage of life. 

But if you are interested in working in childcare are want to make more than $10.50 an hour, opening your own childcare center can do that for you. The average profit for a daycare center owner is about $37,000 a year which is much more than you would make as a daycare worker making $10.50 an hour, as that only comes out to $21,000 a year. 

 

Please note: This blog post is for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Please consult a legal expert to address your specific needs.

To learn more on how to start your own daycare checkout my startup course and documents here.