Many adults function throughout their day on practices of habit and routine. Children, on the other hand, tend to be curious, flexible and remarkably receptive to new experiences and information. Part of a child care professional's job is to provide children with the intellectual stimulation they need to shape their interests and sense of wonder later in life.

In a study of published in the September issue of Child Development, researchers recorded that children who received high-quality child care from birth until they turned 5-years-old had higher scores on math and reading assessment tests.

Notably, the researchers from Boston College, the Harvard Graduate School of Education and Samford University found that children from low-income families who received high-quality child care earned test scores similar to those of peers from wealthy families.

Eric Dearing, the study's lead author, said "These results give added credence to the central role that higher-quality child care should play in future discussions on anti-poverty policy."

The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that the employment of child care workers will increase by 18 % until 2016, as the amount of children under the care of a parent or relative continues to decline.