{"id":57346,"date":"2021-05-19T00:00:32","date_gmt":"2021-05-19T04:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/world.edu\/?p=57346"},"modified":"2021-05-18T16:03:38","modified_gmt":"2021-05-18T20:03:38","slug":"the-typical-child-care-worker-in-the-us-earns-less-than-12-an-hour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/world.edu\/the-typical-child-care-worker-in-the-us-earns-less-than-12-an-hour\/","title":{"rendered":"The typical child care worker in the US earns less than $12 an hour"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

The American Families Plan, announced by President Joe Biden in\u00a0April 2021<\/a>, aims to make child care more affordable for parents. Importantly, it also seeks to ensure caregivers are paid a\u00a0living wage<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 enough to meet basic needs given the local cost of living. If passed, all workers in child care and pre-K programs that receive federal subsidies would earn at least US$15 per hour. Preschool teachers and child care workers with similar qualifications as kindergarten teachers would be paid in line with what kindergarten teachers earn.<\/p>\n

Currently, child care workers who care for infants and toddlers tend to earn much less than those who care for older children.<\/p>\n

In 2019, child care workers across the United States earned\u00a0an average wage of $11.65<\/a>\u00a0per hour. That includes people who worked in child care centers and schools as well as private homes. As a result, in several states,\u00a0over 25%<\/a>\u00a0of those workers \u2013\u00a0overwhelmingly women<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 live at or below the poverty level.<\/p>\n

Although early childhood caregivers saw a slight increase in wages in 2020, to\u00a0$12.88 per hour<\/a>, it was a temporary bump due to some being\u00a0classified as essential workers<\/a>\u00a0or receiving\u00a0hazard pay<\/a>\u00a0during the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

The median annual income for a child care worker is about\u00a0$25,500<\/a>\u00a0for 12 months of work, compared to a preschool teacher\u2019s median salary of just under\u00a0$32,000<\/a>\u00a0for, often, 10 months. A kindergarten teacher, meanwhile, earns roughly\u00a0$58,000<\/a>, typically for 10 months.<\/p>\n

Critical development years<\/strong><\/h4>\n

As experts in\u00a0child development<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0infant and toddler mental health<\/a>, we know how important high-quality care is for a child\u2019s development.<\/p>\n

A child\u2019s brain develops rapidly from ages 0-5 when the\u00a0foundational structures<\/a>\u00a0for learning and human interaction are established. Research shows that\u00a0sensitive and stimulating caregiving<\/a>, where materials and experiences are carefully selected to engage a child\u2019s senses, set off a series of connections between neurons in their brain.<\/p>\n

A caregiver helps a child thrive by providing consistent attention,\u00a0back-and-forth communication<\/a>\u00a0and emotional responsiveness \u2013 during routine times of diapering and feeding, as well as during planned activities.<\/p>\n

Failure to respond or responses that are provided by a primary caregiver experiencing\u00a0higher levels of anxiety<\/a>\u00a0have been shown to have an impact on the way\u00a0the child\u2019s brain develops<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Impact of low wages<\/strong><\/h4>\n

According to the Center for the Study of Child Care at University of California Berkeley,\u00a0caregivers in only 10 states<\/a>\u00a0are paid what\u2019s considered a living wage. As a result, nearly half of this workforce nationwide depends on public income support programs like food stamps or Medicaid.<\/p>\n

The salary inequities can\u2019t be explained away by lower levels of academic training or easier workdays. Early childhood educators with bachelor\u2019s degrees earn\u00a0as little as half<\/a>\u00a0of what K-8 teachers with the same credentials earn.<\/p>\n

And whether caregivers are sitting on the floor playing with a child or lifting them into highchairs, the job is physically demanding \u2013 especially\u00a0in states<\/a>\u00a0like Florida and Texas where one caregiver may be responsible for 10 or more toddlers. Plus, the average toddler weighs\u00a0over 25 pounds<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Low wages, few benefits, stressful work conditions and feeling like their work isn\u2019t valued are factors affecting the\u00a0high turnover rates<\/a>\u00a0and staffing shortage in child care.<\/p>\n

A shortage of qualified staff hurts employers, but it also affects the young children who depend on them for care. Continuously changing caregivers influences quality of\u00a0interaction and attachment<\/a>. During such a critical period of growth in a child\u2019s life, when development depends on the caregiver\u2019s attention to a child, we believe caregivers should be paid a wage that makes it possible for them to afford health care \u2013 including mental health services, should they be needed \u2013 and minimizes distraction from worries about their own economic stability.<\/p>\n

Author Bios:<\/strong> Melissa M. Jozwiak is <\/span>Associate Professor of Early Childhood and Carl Sheperis is Professor of Mental Health Counseling both at Texas A&M-San Antonio<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The American Families Plan, announced by President Joe Biden in\u00a0April 2021, aims to make child care more affordable for parents. Importantly, it also seeks to ensure caregivers are paid a\u00a0living wage\u00a0\u2013 enough to meet basic needs given the local cost of living. If passed, all workers in child care and pre-K programs that receive federal […]\n… learn more→<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":57347,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[85],"tags":[185177],"coauthors":[11733],"class_list":["post-57346","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-social-change","tag-child-care"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe typical child care worker in the US earns less than $12 an hour - World leading higher education information and services<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/the-typical-child-care-worker-in-the-us-earns-less-than-12-an-hour\/\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The typical child care worker in the US earns less than $12 an hour - World leading higher education information and services\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The American Families Plan, announced by President Joe Biden in\u00a0April 2021, aims to make child care more affordable for parents. 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