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
$20k
Nanny
3.3
$9k
Community health worker
3.2
$28k
Childcare program administrator
3.2
$31k
Educational administrator
3.2
$65k
Childcare worker
3.2
$2k
Preschool teacher
3.2
$9k
Special education teacher
3.1
$54k
Teacher
3.0
$38k
Kindergarten teacher
3.0
$26k

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

5 Star
10%

10% of childcare workers rated their compensation 5 stars

4 Star
18%

18% of childcare workers rated their compensation 4 stars

3 Star
24%

24% of childcare workers rated their compensation 3 stars

2 Star
24%

24% of childcare workers rated their compensation 2 stars

1 Star
22%

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

5 Star
20%

20% of childcare workers rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars

4 Star
25%

25% of childcare workers rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars

3 Star
26%

26% of childcare workers rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars

2 Star
16%

16% of childcare workers rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars

1 Star
13%

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

5 Star
35%

35% of childcare workers rated their career fit 5 stars

4 Star
35%

35% of childcare workers rated their career fit 4 stars

3 Star
19%

19% of childcare workers rated their career fit 3 stars

2 Star
7%

7% of childcare workers rated their career fit 2 stars

1 Star
5%

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

5 Star
22%

22% of childcare workers rated their work environment 5 stars

4 Star
32%

32% of childcare workers rated their work environment 4 stars

3 Star
25%

25% of childcare workers rated their work environment 3 stars

2 Star
13%

13% of childcare workers rated their work environment 2 stars

1 Star
7%

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

5 Star
16%

16% of childcare workers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars

4 Star
21%

21% of childcare workers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars

3 Star
24%

24% of childcare workers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars

2 Star
24%

24% of childcare workers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars

1 Star
16%

16% of childcare workers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars