Dive Brief:
- Child care providers are reporting higher levels of anxiety and depression compared to how they felt before the pandemic, according to surveys conducted by the Rapid Survey Project at Stanford University’s Center on Early Childhood.
- About half of the child care providers surveyed said they experienced moderate-to-high levels of anxiety symptoms, including feeling nervous or restless/fidgety. About a third of providers said they had moderate-to-high levels of sad, hopeless or worthless feelings.
- The data show that more needs to be done to support child care workers, including providing a livable wage and better working conditions, the Rapid Survey Project said in a fact sheet released May 24.
Dive Insight:
The survey responses — collected from 3,585 providers between March 2021 and July 2023 — also point to a connection between child care providers' mental health and material hardship. When providers struggle financially, they are more likely to report higher levels of emotional distress, including anxiety, depression, loneliness and stress.
Nearly half, or 44% of providers surveyed said they have difficulty affording at least one area of basic need, according to Rapid Survey Project data as of August 2023.
Low pay in the child care profession has been a concern among many for a while, but the issue has gained more attention in recent years due to staff shortages in early childhood programs, rising costs of living, and the cost of operating child care businesses.
A survey from the National Association for the Education of Young Children released earlier this year found that about one-third of early childhood program directors, owners and operators said they were paying more in rent for their businesses compared to 6 months earlier. And nearly half — 49% — reported paying more for liability insurance.
The end of federal COVID-19 emergency child care funding in fall 2023 is causing more strain on the child care profession, according to several advocacy organizations.
In response to potential funding cliffs, the U.S. Department of Education released updated guidance in February for how schools, districts and states can use federal Title I funding to expand access to high-quality preschool for 3- to 5-year-olds in a range of settings including schools, Head Start programs and community-based organizations.
Last fall, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services proposed a rule that would raise average Head Start teacher wages by more than $10,000 a year, as well as other workplace recommendations. One aim of the salary increase for staff would be to help equalize pay of Head Start staff with other public preschool teachers. The federal Head Start program provides early childhood education services to children from low-income families
About 1,300 comments have been submitted in response to the proposed rule, including from the National Head Start Association, an organization that represents the Head Start workforce. In its comments dated Jan. 19, the association said that while the proposed rule is well-intentioned, HHS's recommendations are overly-prescriptive, and some are too vague.
In a May 22 letter to HHS coinciding with Head Start’s 59th anniversary, Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., ranking member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, wrote that the proposed requirements exceed federal authority and would remove local decision-making. The financial burdens caused by the proposed rule would reduce the number of available slots for children by 15%, the letter said.
"Congress intentionally did not prescribe strict wage scales in statute, ensuring that programs have needed flexibility to serve children, which HHS flagrantly ignored with this proposed rule," the letter said.