Early Childhood Education News & Reports
North Carolina's Child Care Industry Still Reeling From COVID Setbacks
Like many industries, the pandemic has shined a light on the issues haunting the child care industry. The National Women’s Law Center reported a loss of more than 370,000 jobs in the industry in 2020, a third of the child care workforce.
Although the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported an additional 12,000 jobs to the industry as of April, 1-in-6 jobs still haven’t returned to the field, causing a severe shortage in child care providers.
Many child care workers don’t earn a living wage — and that was true even before the pandemic
Of all the hardships child care workers face, the biggest may be that they’re not paid a living wage in many states, according to a new report.
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the average early childhood worker earned just $11.65 an hour, according to a new study. Since the pandemic started, the situation hasn’t improved — in fact, 60% of workers say their child care programs have tried to reduce expenses through layoffs, furloughs and/or pay cuts since the pandemic started, according to a survey released in December by the National Association for the Education of Young Children.
Click here to read the full article from CNBC.
COVID-19 risk among child care providers
A survey conducted by Yale University of more than 55,000 child care providers from May and June 2020 in the United States helps provide some answers to the safety of child care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Based on the results of the survey, the Yale team found that during the early months of the coronavirus pandemic, child care providers were not more likely to contract COVID-19 whether their workplace closed or stayed open.
Click here to read the full report.
Does quality early childhood education lead to more successful lives?
A report from the National Academy of Sciences -- which is backed by decades of research -- has found that quality early learning experiences contribute to people’s success as adults.
Click here to read the full report from the National Academy of Sciences.
Click here for a blog post and video interview from Mind in the Making about the findings of the report.
The pandemic upended child care. It could be devastating for women.
The coronavirus pandemic has pushed the country’s fragile child-care ecosystem to the brink. Facilities in an industry with already-small profit margins struggled to access state and federal aid as first-come, first-served small-business loans ran out. They are now facing costly safety precautions, such as limiting class sizes and purchasing masks, gloves, and sanitizing cleaner. Industry groups predict that one-third to half of child-care centers may not reopen at all.
Click here to read the full story from the Washington Post.
'A huge burden:' Women in Charlotte disproportionately hit by COVID-19 job losses
Women are bearing the brunt of COVID-19 job losses. The Charlotte Observer reports that in Mecklenburg County, about 40% of the labor force is female, but women filed 58% of the unemployment claims.
“For those who are struggling to work two and three jobs to take care of their families — to be hit by corona absolutely throws a wrench in the work that they’re doing to ensure that all of their needs are met,” said Michelle Meggs, executive director of UNC Charlotte’s Women + Girls Research Alliance.
The Explicit and Implicit Costs of the Current Early Care and Education System
The chronic underfunding of early care and education is compromising the well-being of educators and the children they teach while threatening the economic security of millions of families in the U.S. The current system demands large contributions from the parents of young children, both through payments for services and through forgone income when parents drop out of or reduce their participation in paid labor markets to provide care on their own. Investments from federal, state, and local governments have provided some relief for parents, but those investments have generally been far too small.
Click here to read the full report from the Economic Policy Institute.
