Childcare workers are about average in terms of happiness.
At CareerExplorer, we conduct an ongoing survey with millions of people and ask them how satisfied they are with their careers. As it turns out, childcare workers rate their career happiness 3.2 out of 5 stars which puts them in the bottom 49% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy childcare workers are to similar careers in the industry. Take a look at the results below:
Salaries and satisfaction ratings in similar careers
| Career | Satisfaction | Avg Salary |
|---|---|---|
| Teacher assistant | 3.3 | $24k |
| Nanny | 3.3 | $27k |
| Community health worker | 3.2 | $47k |
| Childcare program administrator | 3.2 | $47k |
| Education administrator | 3.2 | $48k |
| Childcare worker | 3.2 | $27k |
| Preschool teacher | 3.2 | $30k |
| Special education teacher | 3.1 | $53k |
| Teacher | 3.0 | $61k |
| Kindergarten teacher | 3.0 | $61k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are childcare workers happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do childcare workers find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as childcare workers?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are childcare worker’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are childcare workers making the best use of their abilities?
Are childcare workers happy with their salary?
Childcare workers rated their satisfaction with their salaries 2.7/5. Childcare workers tend to be quite unhappy with their salary, with very few reporting satisfaction with their pay.
We asked childcare workers how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
2.7 out of 5 stars
5423 childcare workers
10% of childcare workers rated their compensation 5 stars
18% of childcare workers rated their compensation 4 stars
24% of childcare workers rated their compensation 3 stars
24% of childcare workers rated their compensation 2 stars
22% of childcare workers rated their compensation 1 stars
Do childcare workers find their jobs meaningful?
On average, childcare workers rate the meaningfulness of their work a 3.2/5. Most tend to be satisified with the level of meaning they find in their careers.
We asked childcare workers how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
3.2 out of 5 stars
5506 childcare workers
20% of childcare workers rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
25% of childcare workers rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
26% of childcare workers rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
16% of childcare workers rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
13% of childcare workers rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as childcare workers?
Childcare workers rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.9/5. The majority of childcare workers find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked childcare workers how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
3.9 out of 5 stars
5888 childcare workers
35% of childcare workers rated their career fit 5 stars
35% of childcare workers rated their career fit 4 stars
19% of childcare workers rated their career fit 3 stars
7% of childcare workers rated their career fit 2 stars
5% of childcare workers rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is a childcare worker’s work environment?
As a whole, childcare workers rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.5/5. A solid majority of childcare workers enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as a childcare worker.
We asked childcare workers how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
3.5 out of 5 stars
5869 childcare workers
22% of childcare workers rated their work environment 5 stars
32% of childcare workers rated their work environment 4 stars
25% of childcare workers rated their work environment 3 stars
13% of childcare workers rated their work environment 2 stars
7% of childcare workers rated their work environment 1 stars
Are childcare workers making the best use of their abilities?
Former childcare workers on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 3.0/5. Childcare workers tend to feel that they don’t manage to use their abilities to their fullest, when compared to other careers.
We asked childcare workers how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
3.0 out of 5 stars
5891 childcare workers
16% of childcare workers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
21% of childcare workers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
24% of childcare workers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
24% of childcare workers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
16% of childcare workers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars