“Early childhood educators still have one of the lowest-paying jobs in the nation despite unprecedented public funding to help programs that teach and care for young kids recover from the pandemic, according to a new study released Wednesday.
“The low hourly pay puts these workers, who are disproportionately women of color, in the bottom three percent of occupations. Although their wages increased slightly from an average of $11.65 per hour in 2019 to $13.07 per hour in 2022, their wage growth lags behind fast food workers and retail workers, the study by UC Berkeley’s Center for the Study of Child Care Employment found.”
“Researchers said unprecedented public funding, particularly from the federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), helped keep the early education and child care system from collapsing, but didn’t do enough to sustain its workers long-term.
“ ‘The system has always been fragile even before COVID-19 brought it to its knees,’ said Lea Austin, executive director of the center and co-author of the report.”
“ ‘The people who provide early care and education services have long subsidized the cost by the poverty-level wages that are paid to them,’ Austin said.”
— “UC Berkeley Study Reveals Early Educators Still Among Lowest-Paid Workers,” by Daisy Nguyen, KQED, October 9, 2024