The education/care divide, as in many other areas, shapes the employment of those who work with children. In the education system, teachers are educated to degree level, and have negotiated pay and conditions, good benefits in the event of sickness or other emergencies, and regular school hours and school holidays. They may work with children aged 3–5 years, or older children, and have an informed view of the continuity of education for children, and individual children's learning progress in the short and long term. Teaching assistants or nursery nurses, qualified to the equivalent of Alevel standard (level 3 NNEB), act as assistants to the teacher in a school classroom and work under his or her direction. The age range that the assistant works with is limited to the younger children, but the hours and benefits are similar to those of a teacher, although the pay is much less. The place of work, the school, is purpose-built and of a relatively high standard, with mandatory outside space for children to play, and reasonable staff facilities. Nursery schools and classes in the education sector are also free at the point of use so the continual hassle of payment of fees does not exist.

A nursery nurse in the care sector in a private or voluntary nursery generally works with children aged 0–5 years. The pay and conditions of work will be much more variable, usually longer hours for less pay, with shorter holidays, uncertain benefits and fewer staff facilities. Places of work are likely to be more constricted – a converted building with poor facilities and no staffroom for instance. But an NNEB-qualified nursery nurse can progress to a senior position and have more responsibility than a classroom assistant and become a senior worker or a manager of a nursery. However, promotion to a senior post is also likely to involve the member of staff in management of parental payments and nursery outgoings and ongoing friction with parents about fees and charges.

Qualified workers are only a segment of those who look after children. Data from the Institute for Fiscal Studies showed that a majority of working mothers with young children under 2 years old rely on informal, home-based care rather than out-of-home care in a nursery.