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Top Takeaways is a series of recaps from important conversations, town halls, webinars and virtual events about early learning.

On May 23, hosted a learning session to share strategies for raising compensation for the child care workforce, using initiatives in Washington, D.C., and Connecticut as case studies.

David Kaz facilitated the conversation with Abt colleagues Adele Robinson and Deena Schwartz. Panelists and policy leaders Beth Bye, commissioner of the and Kimberly Perry, executive director of 聽discussed developments in their respective regions.

Here are our top five takeaways from the presentation.

1. Low retention and wages observed in early care and education (ECE) career trajectories. An created by Abt for the Department of Labor, following workers over 10 years (1998-2018) after they started in the occupation shows that child care workers, and preschool and kindergarten teachers, on average, rank low in starting wages compared to other professions. Still, only 5% of such workers remain in the same job 10 years later, with 14% staying to work in the field. 鈥淥ften when child care workers move on, it鈥檚 outside of the field,鈥� explained Schwartz, citing retail sales and administrative assistance as common next jobs.

2. Wage growth varies by workers鈥� race and gender. When looking at two people starting in the same occupation at a similar wage, income disparities are observed a decade later in ECE occupations. 鈥淢en, on average, are earning $6.75 per hour more than women, and white workers are earning $3.80 more than Black workers,鈥� Schwartz said. The increases can be explained by a wage bump from a new role or promotions, and pay increases in the same job.

3. All early care providers deserve worthy wages. Robinson noted the difficulty of allocating limited funds in the space. 鈥淎 lot of decisions have to be made about who gets compensated. It鈥檚 not universal.鈥� In the case of Washington, D.C., Perry said the D.C. Council created a task force to tackle the issue, comprising providers, teachers, academics and policy experts. 鈥淯ltimately, there was an acknowledgment that we were losing teachers to non-teaching jobs.鈥�What they were looking for was better pay and benefits.鈥�

D.C. started its compensation program with early care teachers, and health, dental and vision benefits were included, and not just for teachers. 鈥淭he task force had a vision to ensure everyone could enjoy the benefits,鈥� Perry explained. The additional compensation in Washington is funded by a tax on income earners of $200,000 or more.

4. Equitable funding is a priority. In remembering what early child care providers did during the pandemic, Bye said, 鈥淥ur governor had that idea that frontline workers need to be rewarded.鈥� The state sent stabilization funds directly to programs for dispensation, and 25% of it had to be given as compensation to workers. The iterative process involved community proposals, feedback and edits based on input.

鈥淲e felt that COVID did not hit communities equally, and we wanted to ensure equity was at the center,鈥� Bye said. Connecticut advantaged high-need, subsidized, accredited and infant and toddler programs, which were observed to struggle the most with hiring and keeping workers. D.C. similarly focused on equitable allocation. 鈥淎n equity adjustment will provide programs with an additional amount of dollars to go to their administration based on the number of subsidy seats they have,鈥� Perry said.

5. The United States needs long-term planning and can learn much from models abroad. Raising and adjusting the salaries of every single worker in an early learning program is the long-term goal for a pressing and persistent problem. Worthy wages, Perry said, 鈥渁re the only way I believe we are going to keep our workers and make sure people feel seen and appreciated for the work they do every day.鈥�

Bye said, 鈥淲e are at least a decade away from having the workforce we need, and the current crisis is huge. We will need some scaffolding and temporary measures for the next five to ten years as we build the long-term solutions,鈥� citing Scotland and Germany as examples of countries doing long-term planning. 鈥淓ven with all these funds, it鈥檚 not building a system.鈥�

This story originally published on Early Learning Nation and is now archived on 麻豆精品. Learn more here.