How To Become A Child Care Provider: What It Is and Career Path

What is a child care provider and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted expert

Laura Schroeder

If you love working with children and have experience taking care of them, becoming a child care provider may be just the right career path for you. As a child care provider, your main responsibility is to ensure that the children's needs are met and that they are safe and happy throughout the day.

For this role, you can find plenty of opportunities in daycares, community centers, and preschools. However, you may also find jobs working for private clients as a nanny. In any case, your duties will revolve around feeding children, conducting educational or recreational activities, helping them use the bathroom, and other basic childcare tasks.

You will only need a high school diploma to qualify for this role. Aside from that, you may also need to prove that you have experience caring for children, which you can acquire through references from babysitting clients or previous child care jobs. Oftentimes, you will also have to pass background checks to ensure that you are legally allowed to work with children.

On average, the salary for a child care provider is around $24,000. However, there are some child care providers that make as much as $35,000 or even higher, especially those working for high-profile clients.

What general advice would you give to a child care provider?

Laura Schroeder

President, International Nanny Association

Young graduates will need to have some knowledge or experience in early childhood education, as help with the school day has become an important part of a nanny's job since the pandemic. They also must be able to work independently and be self motivated as their bosses will likely not be on site. There are jobs for nannies all over the U.S., but the best paying jobs tend to be in wealthier areas and larger cities, for example L.A., San Francisco, Seattle and Boston.

ScoreChild Care ProviderUS Average

Salary

2.6

Avg. Salary $33,145

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.7

Growth rate 6%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.01%

Asian 6.60%

Black or African American 7.86%

Hispanic or Latino 20.31%

Unknown 6.17%

White 58.06%

Gender

female 90.54%

male 9.46%

Age - 35

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 35

Stress level

6.7

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

3.7

Complexity level is basic

7 - challenging

Work life balance

10.0

Work life balance is excellent

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a child care provider

Explore child care provider education requirements

Most common child care provider degrees

Bachelor's

33.5 %

High School Diploma

28.9 %

Associate

20.8 %

Start to develop specific child care provider skills

Skills	Percentages
Nutritional Meals	25.06%
Child Care	21.92%
CPR	10.58%
Homework Assignments	8.67%
Social Development	4.07%

Complete relevant child care provider training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New child care providers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a child care provider based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real child care provider resumes.

Gain additional child care provider certifications

Child care provider certifications can show employers you have a baseline of knowledge expected for the position. Certifications can also make you a more competitive candidate. Even if employers don't require a specific child care provider certification, having one may help you stand out relative to other applicants.

The most common certifications for child care providers include Child Development Associate (CDA) and First Aid, CPR and AED Instructor.

More About Certifications

Research child care provider duties and responsibilities

Provide first aid and CPR, prevention of the spread of blood borne pathogens and access of emergency services as needed.
Maintain necessary documentation for licensing as well as certifications including CPR.
Complete accurate and timely documentation on kids' behavior as outlined by policy.
Accumulate early childhood experience through daily interactions and continual training sessions.

Prepare your child care provider resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your child care provider resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a child care provider resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable child care provider resume templates

Build a professional child care provider resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your child care provider resume.

Apply for child care provider jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a child care provider job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do child care providers rate their job?

5/5

Based on 1 ratings

5 stars

4 stars

3 stars

2 stars

1 star

Child care provider reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Sep 2022

Pros

I love working with kids

Cons

Working with kids means sometimes it can get overwhelming

A zippia user wrote a review on Jun 2022

Pros

I love being a role model telling the kids stories making them lunch coloring and drawing with them and making them happy and laugh

Cons

I honestly can’t complain because there was nothing I ever didn’t enjoy being a babysitter infact I want to work at w children’s hospital when I graduate and make the kids smile and happy

A zippia user wrote a review on Apr 2019

Pros

Working to help to reach there full potentual

Cons

Actually I really enjoyed the job

What is a child care provider and how to become one

What general advice would you give to a child care provider?

Child care provider career paths

Key steps to become a child care provider

Explore child care provider education requirements

Most common child care provider degrees

Start to develop specific child care provider skills

Complete relevant child care provider training and internships

Gain additional child care provider certifications

Research child care provider duties and responsibilities

Prepare your child care provider resume

Choose from 10+ customizable child care provider resume templates

Apply for child care provider jobs

How did you land your first child care provider job

Average child care provider salary

How do child care providers rate their job?

Child care provider reviews