Across all industries, from construction and manufacturing to technology and financial services, parents, especially mothers, rely on accessible child care to remain employed, making ECE providers the “workforce behind the workforce.” Child care availability depends on the supply of qualified early educators. Limited ECE classrooms force many women to reduce their hours, turn down job opportunities, or leave the workforce altogether. This creates a self-perpetuating cycle: A lack of ECE professionals leads to fewer child care options, shrinking the available labor pool. When child care is unavailable or unreliable, it limits women’s economic mobility and reduces women’s workforce participation across all industries, exacerbating labor shortages and slowing a community’s economic growth. The issue is particularly pressing for single mothers, who head 80% of one-parent households and may not have access to family or friend caregivers.
Did you know that the most recently available data show that 51 percent of families nationwide live in a child care desert, where there are three times as many children under five as available child care slots? With huge waiting lists, parents in 2023 waited years for a slot for their child. On average, more than 160,000 ECE provider vacancies are projected each year through 2033, translating to tens of thousands of empty ECE classrooms nationally.
High-quality ECE requires a more sustainable workforce of highly skilled educators. Currently, the early childhood workforce is overwhelmingly female (96.7%) and disproportionately made up of women of color. The field is also highly qualified: Nearly 80 percent of early childhood educators have attended at least some college, and about half have earned an early childhood education credential, such as a state license or a Child Development Associate (CDA) credential. Caring for and educating young children is no small task, and effective and high-quality education requires evidence-based practices rooted in the science of child development.
So, what is the disconnect between the supply of high-quality ECE and its demand? Despite their qualifications and experience, early educators earn low wages across the country, with Black and Hispanic educators earning even less than their White counterparts. Early educators earn less, on average, than 97 percent of all other workers, including dog walkers. Due to these low wages, nearly half of early educators qualify for public assistance.
Are there any solutions, and where does the public workforce system fit in? Promising workforce development models, such as Registered Apprenticeship programs for early childhood educators, can tackle various challenges, including recruitment, training, skills development, wage increases, worker protections, and career pathways. Investing in ECE RA programs and apprentices is a great way to get involved meaningfully. In a subsequent column, I will explore what successful RA programs for educators look like and how workforce boards can support the workforce behind the workforce.
