Most early educators are paid less than $15 per hour, and many of them report high levels of economic insecurity evidenced by their worry about meeting monthly family expenses or paying for bare necessities such as food and housing. Coupled with low wages, few early educators can expect to work in settings that provide basic professional supports…

Noting a growing consensus that inadequate compensation contributes to turnover among child care teachers and providers, and undermines the quality of services available to children through the state of California, this report presents compensation guidelines developed as a means for Title 5 child care centers and others in California to assess…