102 Lower-income Occupations
For its 2017 report License to Work, the Institute for Justice documented the requirements to get a license for 102 lower-income occupations across all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Read more about the research methods.
State Profiles
For its 2017 report License to Work, the Institute for Justice documented the requirements to get a license for 102 lower-income occupations across all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Read more about the research methods.
Select A State
What is Occupational Licensing?
An “occupational license” is, put simply, government permission to work in a particular field. To earn the license, an aspiring worker must clear various hurdles, such as earning a certain amount of education or training or passing an exam. In the 1950s, only one in 20 U.S. workers needed the government’s permission to pursue their chosen occupation. Today, that figure stands at almost one in four.
Teacher Assistant, Non-Instructional
License required in 5 states
75th most burdensome licensing requirements among moderate-income occupations
90th most heavily regulated occupation among moderate-income occupations
What They Do
Non-instructional teacher assistants, also known as teacher aides, assist teachers in nonteaching duties, such as managing records, materials and equipment; attending to the physical needs of children; and supervising students and performing such other services as support teaching duties when such services are determined and supervised by a teacher. They serve in a position for which a teacher or another professional has ultimate responsibility for the services.[c]Adapted from N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. tit. 8, § 80-5.6 and https://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/25-9041.00[/c] This report looks at requirements for teacher assistants working at non-Title I-funded schools only.Licensing
Five states license non-instructional teacher assistants who work in non-Title I-funded schools.1 All states require high school graduation. Rhode Island is the only state that requires any education or experience (30 hours, or about 7 days), Louisiana is the only state that requires an exam and New Mexico is the only state that charges a fee ($79). Two states have an age requirement: 20 years in Louisiana and 18 years in New Mexico. The average requirements for this occupation are the 75th most burdensome of the 102 occupations studied here. However, because only five states license the occupation, it ranks as the 90th most widely and onerously licensed.
License to Work
The data and information here come from IJ’s License to Work report, released in November 2017.
States Ranked by Average Licensing Burden for 102 Lower-Income Occupations
More Burdensome Less Burdensom
Based on data released in November 2017| Burden Rank | State | States Licensed | Fees | Estimated Calendar Days Lost | Education | Experience | Exams | Minimum Grade | Minimum Age |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rhode Island | 5 | $0 | 7 | 30 clock hours | 0 | 12 | 0 | |
| 2 | Louisiana | 5 | $0 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 20 | ||
| 3 | New Mexico | 5 | $79 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 18 | ||
| 4 | Delaware | 5 | $0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0 | ||
| 4 | Georgia | 5 | $0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0 |