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The differences between child care aides and baby sitters can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a child care aide and a baby sitter. Additionally, a baby sitter has an average salary of $30,972, which is higher than the $29,192 average annual salary of a child care aide.
The top three skills for a child care aide include child care, CPR and behavior management. The most important skills for a baby sitter are child care, kids, and nutritious meals.
| Child Care Aide | Baby Sitter | |
| Yearly salary | $29,192 | $30,972 |
| Hourly rate | $14.03 | $14.89 |
| Growth rate | 6% | 6% |
| Number of jobs | 168,475 | 19,382 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 43% | High School Diploma, 37% |
| Average age | 37 | 37 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
A Child Care Aide is primarily in charge of children's care and personal needs. They typically work at schools, offices, and even in residential areas. Their responsibilities include meeting the parents to identify the extent of the children's needs, developing care plans, monitoring the children's behavior, and updating parents regularly. They also perform various tasks depending on the children's age and needs, such as changing diapers, dressing, preparing meals and snacks, feeding, and toilet assistance. Moreover, a Child Care Aide must ensure a safe and healthy environment for children.
A Baby Sitter is responsible for the welfare and safety of children while their parents or guardian are away. The tasks will vary on the age, behavior, or needs of the children. However, most of the time, a Baby Sitter must supervise the children's activities in a friendly and fun manner, prepare meals, assist in bathing or dressing, and get them to bed. There are also instances when the Baby Sitter must do some light chores, such as cleaning up after the kids or washing the dishes.
Child care aides and baby sitters have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Child Care Aide | Baby Sitter | |
| Average salary | $29,192 | $30,972 |
| Salary range | Between $21,000 And $39,000 | Between $21,000 And $44,000 |
| Highest paying City | Mercer Island, WA | Seattle, WA |
| Highest paying state | Massachusetts | Maine |
| Best paying company | Univ Of Colorado-Colorado Spgs | CARE |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Finance |
There are a few differences between a child care aide and a baby sitter in terms of educational background:
| Child Care Aide | Baby Sitter | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 43% | High School Diploma, 37% |
| Most common major | Psychology | Psychology |
| Most common college | California State University - Long Beach | University of Virginia |
Here are the differences between child care aides' and baby sitters' demographics:
| Child Care Aide | Baby Sitter | |
| Average age | 37 | 37 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 14.1% Female, 85.9% | Male, 14.2% Female, 85.8% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 9.6% Unknown, 6.4% Hispanic or Latino, 18.1% Asian, 7.3% White, 57.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.1% | Black or African American, 9.3% Unknown, 6.2% Hispanic or Latino, 21.1% Asian, 6.8% White, 55.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.0% |
| LGBT Percentage | 4% | 4% |