Supporting the Early Childhood Workforce

Early Childhood Education (ECE) professionals provide the next generation with the foundations for educational and life-long success. The skills, knowledge, and well-being of these professionals are critical to the quality of a child’s early learning experiences. A Harvard study concluded, “the essence of quality in early childhood services is embodied in the expertise, skills, and relationship-building capacities of their staff.”¹

Numerous studies in recent years demonstrate the long-term positive impacts high-quality early education has on cognitive and social development, and yet there has been little national emphasis placed on the importance of recruiting and retaining highly qualified professionals. This has been a longstanding challenge in the ECE field due in large part to the high costs associated with obtaining a degree, historically low pay, and limited to no benefits. The median wage for child care staff—$23,240 per year in 2018—qualifies most for public benefits and is less than half of what an elementary teacher makes, despite scientific evidence that the first years of life coincide with the most important period of brain development.

The wage gap is compounded by the reality that individuals in similar industries such as elementary teachers are often eligible for benefits such as student loan forgiveness programs, whereas birth through five educators often are not. Currently, over 50 such federal programs are authorized, approximately 30 of which are operational as of 2017, but none of them are meant to benefit early childhood educators. Today, when the average college student graduates with nearly $40,000 of debt, this benefit alone can mean all the difference in the career field an individual pursues after college.

Because of these problems, many highly-qualified individuals with degrees who might otherwise work in the ECE field—especially those with student loans—choose a better paid position such as an elementary teacher. A 2019 survey conducted by Jumpstart, a national organization whose members (the vast majority of whom are college students) work in ECE classrooms in underserved communities around the country, found an overwhelming number of alumni of the program cited high costs associated with earning a qualifying degree and low salaries in the field as primary impediments to entering the ECE field.²

Over the next six years, nearly 200,000 jobs are expected to be open in the ECE field as the need for more high-quality child care and early learning environments increases. Addressing the tension between the demand for a highly educated workforce and the disproportionately low compensation for that workforce will be central to meeting the needs of children and families and properly equipping tomorrow’s leaders. Tackling these issues now will help prevent a crisis for children, families, providers, and college graduates alike.