20-Year Prospect
Let'’s skip right over the birds and bees and talk about babies: Americans are still having them. So, unless Mother Nature goes all "Children of Men" on our collective fertility, your services are going to be needed for years to come.
Sure, the birth rate in this country has dropped. There were only 13.2 births per 1,000 people in 2010, versus 24.4 births per 1,000 people in 1950. But parents still need someone—namely, you—to watch their spawn while they're off at work.
This puts you in a powerful position: You can charge an arm and a leg to watch over Wee Baby Bob and people will pay up. In fact, a study published last year by Child Care Aware of America found that, in many places, a family's yearly child care costs exceeded their yearly rent. For example, in Massachusetts, parents forked over an average of $16,000 per year to send a baby to day care.
Given how expensive child care is, some moms (and dads) are opting to ditch work and watch the kids. But don't worry: This isn't likely to affect your bottom line. There will still be many, many parents whose financial situation requires them to be on the job...which means your career is safe for the foreseeable future.