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The differences between family educators and foster care workers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a family educator and a foster care worker. Additionally, a foster care worker has an average salary of $46,037, which is higher than the $35,404 average annual salary of a family educator.
The top three skills for a family educator include social work, child development and CPR. The most important skills for a foster care worker are foster care, social work, and child abuse.
| Family Educator | Foster Care Worker | |
| Yearly salary | $35,404 | $46,037 |
| Hourly rate | $17.02 | $22.13 |
| Growth rate | 9% | 9% |
| Number of jobs | 24,959 | 151,625 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 63% | Bachelor's Degree, 64% |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
A family educator ensures that parents are educated on their family members' nutritional, medical, and educational needs. These educators support and encourage self-sufficiency for the family that they work with by helping navigate family problems. They enable parents to obtain the education and skills to raise physically, emotionally, and psychologically healthy children. Family educators must have strong communication skills, good decision-making skills, strong self-esteem, and knowledge of human development.
A Foster Care Worker helps improve the social and psychological functioning of children and their families as well as increases the family's well-being and the academic functioning of children. They counsel families about issues regarding their child's care and develop healthy living situations.
Family educators and foster care workers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Family Educator | Foster Care Worker | |
| Average salary | $35,404 | $46,037 |
| Salary range | Between $25,000 And $50,000 | Between $32,000 And $65,000 |
| Highest paying City | - | Baltimore, MD |
| Highest paying state | - | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | - | Riverview Health |
| Best paying industry | - | Construction |
There are a few differences between a family educator and a foster care worker in terms of educational background:
| Family Educator | Foster Care Worker | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 63% | Bachelor's Degree, 64% |
| Most common major | Psychology | Social Work |
| Most common college | California State University - Long Beach | Boston University |
Here are the differences between family educators' and foster care workers' demographics:
| Family Educator | Foster Care Worker | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 19.7% Female, 80.3% | Male, 20.1% Female, 79.9% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 13.4% Unknown, 4.2% Hispanic or Latino, 15.1% Asian, 2.7% White, 63.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.5% | Black or African American, 13.4% Unknown, 4.2% Hispanic or Latino, 15.1% Asian, 2.7% White, 63.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.5% |
| LGBT Percentage | 10% | 10% |