The COVID-19 pandemic has reinforced the importance of child care for families with young children, but it has also exposed the child care crisis that existed long before March 2020.

Early childhood educators have a critical role in society. They provide children the warmth, attention, and education they need for healthy growth and development. They enable parents to work and earn wages to support their families, and early care helps strengthen the economy.

But even before the pandemic, early childhood educators were undervalued. In 2019, the median wage for child care workers ($24,230) was less than half that of kindergarten teachers ($56,850).

This exacerbates the gender pay gap because nearly all child care workers are women and 40 percent are women of color. And because of structural racism, women of color have historically faced barriers to educational and professional developmental opportunities accessible to their white counterparts. Early childhood educators are already among the lowest-paid workers, and Black and Hispanic educators make the lowest wages among this group.

The pandemic exacerbated these racial inequities. It weakened early childhood educators’ financial stability and well-being, especially for those who were temporarily laid off without pay. Staff in programs that could not afford to close have been facing increased exposure risk for low wages to provide the care that allows people to work.

To address this crisis, the federal government is urging states (PDF) to use stimulus funds to support the early childhood workforce.

As states seek to address these challenges, they can look to the following evidence-based solutions we elevate in our new reports.

  • Distribute public funds equitably and account for structural racism.
  • Use stimulus and other public funds to improve early childhood educator economic well-being.
  • Spend stimulus funds on early childhood educator professional development activities that provide scholarships for coursework, pay staff for time off to participate in training, and offer apprenticeships and other alternative pathways that lead to credentials or degrees.
  • Devote stimulus funds to activities that address staff well-being.

Read the full article about reviving childcare during the pandemic by Diane Schilder and Heather Sandstrom at Urban Institute.