Nannies
39-9011.01
Bright Outlook Updated 2024

Care for children in private households and provide support and expertise to parents in satisfying children's physical, emotional, intellectual, and social needs. Duties may include meal planning and preparation, laundry and clothing care, organization of play activities and outings, discipline, intellectual stimulation, language activities, and transportation.

Sample of reported job titles: Family Assistant, Family Manager, Governess, House Manager, Household Manager, Nanny, Special Needs Nanny, Travel Nanny

Occupation-Specific Information

Tasks

  • Instruct children in safe behavior, such as seeking adult assistance when crossing the street and avoiding contact with unsafe objects.
  • Remove hazards and develop appropriate boundaries and rules to create a safe environment for children.
  • Perform first aid or cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) when required.
  • Instruct and assist children in the development of health and personal habits, such as eating, resting, and toilet behavior.
  • Regulate children's rest periods and nap schedules.
  • Teach and perform age-appropriate activities, such as lap play, reading, and arts and crafts, to encourage intellectual development of children.
  • Help prepare and serve nutritionally balanced meals and snacks for children.
  • Model appropriate social behaviors and encourage concern for others to cultivate development of interpersonal relationships and communication skills.
  • Organize and conduct age-appropriate recreational activities, such as games, arts and crafts, sports, walks, and play dates.
  • Assign appropriate chores and praise targeted behaviors to encourage development of self-control, self-confidence, and responsibility.
  • Observe children's behavior for irregularities, take temperature, transport children to doctor, or administer medications, as directed, to maintain children's health.
  • Work with parents to develop and implement discipline programs to promote desirable child behavior.
  • Perform housekeeping and cleaning duties related to children's care.
  • Meet regularly with parents to discuss children's activities and development.
  • Supervise and assist with homework.
  • Transport children to schools, social outings, and medical appointments.
  • Keep records of play, meal schedules, and bill payment.
  • Help develop or monitor family schedule.
  • Shop for groceries, clothing, and other items needed for children's care.
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Technology Skills

Hot technology
Hot Technologies are requirements most frequently included across all employer job postings.

Occupational Requirements

Work Activities

  • Assisting and Caring for Others — Providing personal assistance, medical attention, emotional support, or other personal care to others such as coworkers, customers, or patients.
  • Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships — Developing constructive and cooperative working relationships with others, and maintaining them over time.
  • Performing General Physical Activities — Performing physical activities that require considerable use of your arms and legs and moving your whole body, such as climbing, lifting, balancing, walking, stooping, and handling materials.
  • Making Decisions and Solving Problems — Analyzing information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems.
  • Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates — Providing information to supervisors, co-workers, and subordinates by telephone, in written form, e-mail, or in person.
  • Scheduling Work and Activities — Scheduling events, programs, and activities, as well as the work of others.
  • Thinking Creatively — Developing, designing, or creating new applications, ideas, relationships, systems, or products, including artistic contributions.
  • Getting Information — Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.
  • Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work — Developing specific goals and plans to prioritize, organize, and accomplish your work.
  • Resolving Conflicts and Negotiating with Others — Handling complaints, settling disputes, and resolving grievances and conflicts, or otherwise negotiating with others.
  • Coaching and Developing Others — Identifying the developmental needs of others and coaching, mentoring, or otherwise helping others to improve their knowledge or skills.
  • Training and Teaching Others — Identifying the educational needs of others, developing formal educational or training programs or classes, and teaching or instructing others.
  • Handling and Moving Objects — Using hands and arms in handling, installing, positioning, and moving materials, and manipulating things.
  • Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge — Keeping up-to-date technically and applying new knowledge to your job.
  • Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events — Identifying information by categorizing, estimating, recognizing differences or similarities, and detecting changes in circumstances or events.
  • Monitoring Processes, Materials, or Surroundings — Monitoring and reviewing information from materials, events, or the environment, to detect or assess problems.
  • Coordinating the Work and Activities of Others — Getting members of a group to work together to accomplish tasks.
  • Documenting/Recording Information — Entering, transcribing, recording, storing, or maintaining information in written or electronic/magnetic form.

Detailed Work Activities

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Work Context

  • Face-to-Face Discussions — 81% responded “Every day.”
  • Duration of Typical Work Week — 80% responded “More than 40 hours.”
  • Physical Proximity — 84% responded “Very close (near touching).”
  • Freedom to Make Decisions — 60% responded “A lot of freedom.”
  • Contact With Others — 71% responded “Constant contact with others.”
  • In an Enclosed Vehicle or Equipment — 50% responded “Every day.”
  • Structured versus Unstructured Work — 48% responded “Some freedom.”
  • Sounds, Noise Levels Are Distracting or Uncomfortable — 40% responded “Every day.”
  • Spend Time Standing — 56% responded “More than half the time.”
  • Impact of Decisions on Co-workers or Company Results — 40% responded “Very important results.”
  • Indoors, Environmentally Controlled — 64% responded “Every day.”
  • Outdoors, Exposed to Weather — 40% responded “Once a week or more but not every day.”
  • Frequency of Decision Making — 52% responded “Every day.”
  • Consequence of Error — 44% responded “Extremely serious.”
  • Telephone — 29% responded “Once a week or more but not every day.”
  • Spend Time Using Your Hands to Handle, Control, or Feel Objects, Tools, or Controls — 40% responded “Continually or almost continually.”
  • Spend Time Kneeling, Crouching, Stooping, or Crawling — 32% responded “More than half the time.”
  • Spend Time Walking and Running — 40% responded “More than half the time.”
  • Work With Work Group or Team — 29% responded “Extremely important.”
  • Importance of Being Exact or Accurate — 36% responded “Fairly important.”
  • Responsible for Others' Health and Safety — 40% responded “Very high responsibility.”
  • Frequency of Conflict Situations — 36% responded “Once a year or more but not every month.”
  • Electronic Mail — 40% responded “Once a week or more but not every day.”
  • Spend Time Bending or Twisting the Body — 36% responded “Less than half the time.”

Experience Requirements

Job Zone

Title
Job Zone Two: Some Preparation Needed
Education
These occupations usually require a high school diploma.
Related Experience
Some previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is usually needed. For example, a teller would benefit from experience working directly with the public.
Job Training
Employees in these occupations need anywhere from a few months to one year of working with experienced employees. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.
Job Zone Examples
These occupations often involve using your knowledge and skills to help others. Examples include orderlies, counter and rental clerks, customer service representatives, security guards, upholsterers, tellers, and dental laboratory technicians.
SVP Range
(4.0 to < 6.0)

Training & Credentials

State training
Local training
Certifications
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Apprenticeship Opportunities

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Worker Requirements

Skills

  • Active Listening — Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
  • Monitoring — Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
  • Social Perceptiveness — Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
  • Service Orientation — Actively looking for ways to help people.
  • Speaking — Talking to others to convey information effectively.
  • Critical Thinking — Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
  • Judgment and Decision Making — Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
  • Persuasion — Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
  • Coordination — Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
  • Time Management — Managing one's own time and the time of others.
  • Complex Problem Solving — Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
  • Instructing — Teaching others how to do something.
  • Learning Strategies — Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
  • Active Learning — Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
  • Negotiation — Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
  • Reading Comprehension — Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
  • Writing — Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.

Knowledge

  • English Language — Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
  • Customer and Personal Service — Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
  • Psychology — Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
  • Education and Training — Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
  • Public Safety and Security — Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.

Education

How much education does a new hire need to perform a job in this occupation? Respondents said:

  • 60%
     
    High school diploma or equivalent required
  • 16%
     
    Some college, no degree required
  • 8%
     
    Post-secondary certificate required

Worker Characteristics

Abilities

  • Oral Comprehension — The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
  • Oral Expression — The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
  • Problem Sensitivity — The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
  • Speech Clarity — The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
  • Speech Recognition — The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
  • Deductive Reasoning — The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
  • Inductive Reasoning — The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
  • Written Comprehension — The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
  • Fluency of Ideas — The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
  • Near Vision — The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
  • Originality — The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
  • Selective Attention — The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.
  • Information Ordering — The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
  • Trunk Strength — The ability to use your abdominal and lower back muscles to support part of the body repeatedly or continuously over time without "giving out" or fatiguing.
  • Written Expression — The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.

Interests

Interest code: SA
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  • Social — Work involves helping, teaching, advising, assisting, or providing service to others. Social occupations are often associated with social, health care, personal service, teaching/education, or religious activities.
  • Artistic — Work involves creating original visual artwork, performances, written works, food, or music for a variety of media, or applying artistic principles to the design of various objects and materials. Artistic occupations are often associated with visual arts, applied arts and design, performing arts, music, creative writing, media, or culinary art.

Work Values

  • Relationships — Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to provide service to others and work with co-workers in a friendly non-competitive environment. Corresponding needs are Co-workers, Moral Values and Social Service.
  • Independence — Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to work on their own and make decisions. Corresponding needs are Creativity, Responsibility and Autonomy.
  • Achievement — Occupations that satisfy this work value are results oriented and allow employees to use their strongest abilities, giving them a feeling of accomplishment. Corresponding needs are Ability Utilization and Achievement.

Work Styles

  • Dependability — Job requires being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations.
  • Integrity — Job requires being honest and ethical.
  • Concern for Others — Job requires being sensitive to others' needs and feelings and being understanding and helpful on the job.
  • Self-Control — Job requires maintaining composure, keeping emotions in check, controlling anger, and avoiding aggressive behavior, even in very difficult situations.
  • Adaptability/Flexibility — Job requires being open to change (positive or negative) and to considerable variety in the workplace.
  • Stress Tolerance — Job requires accepting criticism and dealing calmly and effectively with high-stress situations.
  • Cooperation — Job requires being pleasant with others on the job and displaying a good-natured, cooperative attitude.
  • Independence — Job requires developing one's own ways of doing things, guiding oneself with little or no supervision, and depending on oneself to get things done.
  • Attention to Detail — Job requires being careful about detail and thorough in completing work tasks.
  • Initiative — Job requires a willingness to take on responsibilities and challenges.
  • Persistence — Job requires persistence in the face of obstacles.
  • Social Orientation — Job requires preferring to work with others rather than alone, and being personally connected with others on the job.
  • Leadership — Job requires a willingness to lead, take charge, and offer opinions and direction.
  • Achievement/Effort — Job requires establishing and maintaining personally challenging achievement goals and exerting effort toward mastering tasks.
  • Analytical Thinking — Job requires analyzing information and using logic to address work-related issues and problems.
  • Innovation — Job requires creativity and alternative thinking to develop new ideas for and answers to work-related problems.

Workforce Characteristics

Wages & Employment Trends

Median wage data for Childcare Workers.
Employment data for Childcare Workers.
Industry data for Childcare Workers.
Median wages (2023)
$14.60 hourly, $30,370 annual
State wages
Local wages
Employment (2023)
970,800 employees
Projected growth (2023-2033)
Decline (-1% or lower)
Projected job openings (2023-2033)
162,500
State trends
Top industries (2023)

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics 2023 wage data and 2023-2033 employment projections . “Projected growth” represents the estimated change in total employment over the projections period (2023-2033). “Projected job openings” represent openings due to growth and replacement.

Job Openings on the Web

State job openings
Local job openings

More Information

Professional Associations

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National Associations