In June 2021, the Minnesota Legislature appropriated significant investments in child care, using $537 million in Child Care and Development Funds from the federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARP). Investments included: $304 million in direct payments to providers through Child Care Stabilization Grants; $22.5 million for Child Care Facility Grants…

This research brief draws on data from the 2021-2022 Study of Family and Staff Well-Being in Head Start FACES Programs (2021-2022 Study) to examine the strategies programs used to improve staff retention and well-being. Using data collected in spring 2022 after more than two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, this brief describes the types of…

The Child Care and Early Education Research Connections collection catalogs resources that researchers, policymakers, and other professionals find and use for child care and early education research. The items outlined in this resource list examine the retention and well-being of the early care and education (ECE) workforce. They were published…

This report provides a closer look at the well-being of the early care and education (ECE) workforce in California, using data collected by the Center for the Study of Child Care Employment (CSCCE) through the 2020 California Early Care and Education Workforce Study. For decades, low levels of public investment in this sector have kept the ECE…

There are few sources of national data on the early childhood and school-age workforce. The National Workforce Registry Alliance is creating an important source of current, verified, longitudinal data on the early care and education field. The 2019 dataset analysis focused on the characteristics of infant--toddler educators to highlight the status…

This report examines the demographic, educational, and employment characteristics (including compensation and benefits) of staff employed in center-based ECE [early care and education] programs throughout Marin County. The findings bring attention to the low wages and economic insecurity of the ECE workforce, particularly against a backdrop of one…

Often overlooked in discussions related to how to ensure accessible and affordable high-quality early childhood education is the heavy burden that has been carried by the early childhood workforce; the data reveal a level of exploitation of this workforce that must be considered and addressed. This chapter will focus attention on the economic…

The State of the Early Childhood Workforce (SECW) Initiative is a groundbreaking multi-year project to shine a steady spotlight on the nation's early childhood workforce. The SECW Initiative is designed to challenge entrenched ideas and policies that maintain an inequitable and inadequate status quo for early educators and for the children and…

During the past half-century, there has been a trend toward increasing the minimum age a child must reach before entering school in the United States. States have accomplished this by moving the school-entry cutoff date earlier in the school year. The evidence presented in this paper shows that these law changes increased human capital…

Discussions of early childhood care and education usually focus on its social and educational value, and how it helps children and families. More recently, the focus in many states, including Wisconsin, has been on potential investments in child care quality improvements as strategies for improving long-term educational outcomes for disadvantaged…

There has been much policy interest on the theme of children's services in recent years. For example, the 1998 National Child Strategy explicitly aims to ensure good quality, affordable childcare for children aged 0 to 14 in every neighbourhood, including both formal childcare and support for informal arrangements. The sector has a changed a lot…

This report proposes several distinct--yet interrelated--policy opportunities that can move more Texans into the middle class. These proposals blend greater state-level investments with common sense policy changes to increase economic well-being for working Texans. While Texas policy makers have recognized the connection between workforce…

The purpose of this study was to understand the characteristics of the current workforce in early childhood. This report highlights key characteristics of the 2005 early childhood center workforce in Ohio. Survey packets were sent to 3,600 randomly selected centers in April 2005, representing centers licensed by the Ohio Department of Job and…

The U.S. Congress has mandated that the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) produce an annual report to help inform policymakers about the progress of education in the United States. Using data from across the center and from other sources of education data, "The Condition of Education 2015" presents 42 key indicators on…

To help inform policymakers and the public about the progress of education in the United States, Congress has mandated that the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) produce an annual report, "The Condition of Education." This year's report presents 42 indicators on important topics and trends in U.S. education. These…