Summary

Family assistants are childcare professionals who choose to work within their own families, taking in children entrusted to them by the Children's Social Welfare Agency. Initially practised by women, this profession is gradually opening up to men, but is still surrounded by prejudice. What is the profile of family assistants today? What are the social and professional challenges facing this profession? In this article, the author, a sociologist, provides elements of analysis based on a study of 6,388 family assistants on working conditions and the exercise of the profession during the first confinement in April 2020. The results show a significant change in the profile of family assistants. The analysis focuses in particular on two points: gender and the level of qualifications in the analysis of career paths. These two dimensions attest to a transformation in the profiles encountered and lead to the discussion of a greater neutralisation of the gender dimension.