EARLY EDUCATION TEACHERS UNDERVALUED THEN AND NOW

Early Education Teachers Undervalued Then and Now

The Center for the Study of Child Care Employment at UC Berkeley issued a report, titled, “Worthy Work, Still Unlivable Wages.” Written by researchers Marcy Whitebook, Deborah Phillips, and Carollee Howes, the report examines the working conditions of early childhood educators in the years following the 1989 National Child Care Staffing Study (NCCSS).”

The NCCSS study brought national attention for the first time to poverty-level wages and high turnover among early childhood teaching staff, and to the negative impact on children. Unfortunately, 25 years later, early educators are still under valued. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, childcare workers have experienced no increase in real earnings.  And, as was true in 1989, childcare workers still earn less than adults who take care of animals, and barely more than fast food cooks.

In California, the average hourly wage of childcare workers, who are responsible for babies and toddlers, was $11.86 in 2013, barely budging from an hourly wage of $11.26 in 1997 when controlled for inflation. California preschool teachers, tasked with preparing 3- to 5-year-olds for a strong start in school, earned an hourly wage of $16.46 in 2013 compared with $14.02 in 1997 when controlled for inflation.

This doesn’t just affect childcare workers and families with young children. We all pay the price. Despite childcare costs increasing two-fold since 1989, in 2012, nearly one-half (46 percent) of childcare workers resided in families enrolled in one or more public support programs such as Medicaid and Food Stamps. The skyrocketing cost to families is going somewhere other than to their children’s teachers and instead of for-profit childcare companies paying their employees a decent wage, they increase their profit on the backs of the public.

There is at least one exception. According to the “Worthy Work” report, The Department of Defense (DOD) sets teachers’ salaries in their early care and education programs at a rate of pay equivalent to those of other DOD employees with similar training, education, seniority, and experience. Over the twenty-five years this policy has been in place, the base pay of new hires among early childhood teaching staff in military child development centers has increased by 76 percent and turnover has drastically decreased. Those with bachelor’s degrees earn on par with other comparably educated military workers.

Armed with this new evidence, childcare workers should organize and demand livable, equitable, and dependable wages. They are one of the fastest growing industries in the nation and they have more power than their employees give them credit for. There needs to be major restructuring, but there is no need to reinvent the wheel - just follow the example of the Department of Defense, or almost any other industrialized nation.

For more information about the report, visit, http://www.irle.berkeley.edu/cscce.

Contact Margaret Lavin at elementarydays@gmail.com.