Choosing a career can be daunting when you don’t know where to begin. Exploring the educational paths that lead to the best jobs to support a family is a good way to limit the number of possibilities. Key aspects to look for when choosing a family-focused career path include expected employment growth, availability of remote or flexible jobs, and a moderate-to-high income that provides a family wage.
To learn more, check out the infographic below created by Mid-America Christian University to highlight its flexible and diverse nursing, education, and technology programs.
Nursing
Whatever degree you choose, from an associate to a master’s, an education in nursing is an excellent option for supporting a family and maintaining work-life balance. It’s a compelling choice for the following reasons:
- Nursing provides a wide variety of job opportunities, including forensic nurse, case manager, health coach, nurse administrator, and nurse researcher.
- Strong employment growth of 5% is projected for registered nurses (RNs) between 2024 and 2034, faster than the average for all occupations, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
- RNs had a competitive median annual salary of $93,600 in 2024, compared with the average of $49,500 for all occupations, according to the BLS.
- Nursing offers flexible and remote work options, including utilization review nurse, nurse consultant, and nurse research coordinator.
Earning a nursing degree gives you multiple choices beyond working in a hospital or clinic. Flexible and family-friendly options include the following:
- Medical writer: Conduct research and interviews to write articles, blogs, web posts, and other informational materials.
- Nurse educator: Create and implement educational materials to help students learn the basics or provide continuing education for working nurses.
- Nurse informatics specialist: Use nursing and information technology (IT) knowledge to design and manage electronic health records (EHRs) to improve patient care.
- School nurse: Align your schedule with your children’s while providing health assessments, first aid, and health education.
Education
Education offers various parent-friendly jobs. A Bachelor’s or Master’s in Education is a good choice for these reasons:
- Education provides a wide variety of job opportunities, including teacher, curriculum developer, tutor, test proctor, librarian, and school counselor.
- Strong employment growth of 17% is projected for specialized instructors such as postsecondary health specialties teachers between 2024 and 2034, and more than 200,000 job openings for elementary, middle school, and high school teachers are projected each year, according to the BLS.
- Postsecondary teachers and high school teachers had competitive median annual salaries of $83,980 and $64,580 in 2024, according to the BLS.
- Education offers flexible and remote work options, including instructional coordinator, college and university administrator, and postsecondary adjunct professor.
An education degree provides many opportunities beyond traditional primary or secondary school teaching. Here are just some of the best jobs for parents that can be performed remotely or with flexible scheduling:
- Corporate trainer: Apply your education degree to the workplace by helping employees learn new skills.
- Education consultant: Uncover educational problems for school districts and recommend ways to solve them or help families make education choices for their children.
- Instructional designer: Gather feedback from educators to design more modern and tailored instructional material to meet student needs.
Technology
Technology careers appear on a lot of best-of lists, including the best jobs to support a family. There are plenty of good reasons for that, including the following:
- Technology provides a wide variety of job opportunities, including data analyst, user experience (UX) designer, web developer, IT data scientist, and software developer.
- Strong employment growth of 9% is projected for all computer occupations between 2024 and 2034, significantly faster than the average for all occupations, according to the BLS.
- Computer jobs had a competitive median annual salary of $105,990 in 2024, according to the BLS.
- Technology offers flexible and remote work options, including systems administrator, Salesforce administrator, and data scientist.
A technology degree opens many doors. Here are several flexible IT jobs that can be done remotely:
- Computer support specialist: Support networks through testing and maintenance, assist users with login and connectivity issues, install new software, and fix computers.
- Information security analyst: Help organizations protect their networks against cybercriminals by staying abreast of the latest security threats and taking steps to deter them.
- Database administrator: Monitor and maintain databases to keep them operating efficiently and securely to protect sensitive data.
Best Jobs for Parents
When looking for a career to support a family and maintain a healthy work-life balance, you have plenty of options. Once you’ve decided on a career and earned a degree, seek out an employer to support you as a parent. In addition to remote work and flexible schedules, look for parental leave, employee resource groups, and child care support. Plenty of in-demand careers pay a family wage and support your role as a parent. Use this list as a guide to find yours.
Sources
CompTIA, Best Tech Jobs for Remote Work in 2023
FlexJobs, “10 Careers for Parents to Have Work-Life Balance”
Indeed, “11 High-Paying Remote Nursing Jobs”
Indeed, “17 Career Opportunities in Education Besides Teaching”
Indeed, “Alternative Careers for a Nurse”
Indeed, “Learn About Being a School Nurse”
Indeed, “What You Can Do With a Nursing Degree”
Payscale, Best Jobs for Working Parents
SSi People, Working Parents in Tech: Navigating Family Commitments and Career Demands
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Computer and Information Technology Occupations
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Computer Support Specialists
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Database Administrators and Architects
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Education Instruction and Library Occupations
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Information Security Analysts
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Postsecondary Teachers
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Registered Nurses