Care worker
🧓Looks after older and bedridden people: helps them eat and wash, turns them, gives medication on schedule, takes them out and keeps them company.
Prospects & pay
What the work is like
💼 Job market
🇺🇸 $38.9k a year on average
Personal care aides — US: Census ACS 2020–24 (full-time), BLS projections 2025–35
🇬🇧 £27.5k median a year · 297,000 jobs
Care workers and home carers — UK: ONS ASHE 2025 (full-time)
🤖 AI & automation
Fall sensors and reminders will help, but care robots are still a long way off. Demand will only grow as populations age.
Who it suits
Interests: 🤝 Helping and caring, 🩺 Medicine and health.
Key strengths: strength and stamina, understanding people.
Where to study
- Course Care Certificate on the job (UK), Home Health Aide training (US, 75+ hrs)
- Vocational Level 2/3 Diploma in Adult Care (UK), Pflegehelfer / Altenpflege Ausbildung (DE)
Key school subjects (A-level / IB / AP): Biology, Psychology.
🧗 No degree needed: in the UK you train on the job (Care Certificate) and through college diplomas; in the US a home health aide course of 75+ hours. Demand is high across Europe and the US.
Things to know
🛢️ Dirt, noise, smells🌙 Night shifts and on-call🕯️ Grief, death, hard life stories
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