Critical Facts About the Early Childhood Workforce
Critical Facts About the Early Childhood Workforce
How many early childhood educators were employed in 2004?
- In 2004, there were over 2.1 million early childhood educators.
Total number of early childhood educators employed |
2,163,057
|
Number of center-based teachers |
352,447
(16%) |
Number of center-based administrators |
74,325
(3%) |
Number of other center-based staff1 |
493,723
(23%) |
Number of home-based educators |
735,710
(34%) |
Number of school-based ECE staff except teachers |
112,723
(5%) |
Number of school-based pre-kindergarten and kindergarten teachers |
240,957
(11%) |
Number of ECE staff in other industries |
153,172
(7%) |
1Other center-based staff includes other center-based occupations that deal with children (e.g., teachers, assistant teachers, and teachers aides)
Note: Center-based includes private and public, for-profit and not-for-profit child care centers, Head Start centers, and stand alone nursery schools and preschools. School-based includes early childhood occupations employed by elementary schools. Home-based includes family/group child care homes as well as private household child care workers.
Source: Economic Policy Institute. Losing Ground in Early Childhood Education: Declining Workforce Qualifications in an Expanding Industry, 1979-2004. (2005) http://www.epinet.org/studies/ece/losing_ground-full_text.pdf
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What are the qualifications and training requirements for teachers and directors in child care centers in 2005?
Setting |
Role |
Number of States that Require
Pre-Service Qualifications |
Number of States that Require
Annual Ongoing Hours |
Child Care Center |
Teacher |
12 |
47 |
Master Teacher1 |
14 |
15 |
Director |
40 |
43 |
1In 2005, 15 states regulate the master teacher role.
Sources: National Child Care Information Center (2005). Child Care Licensing Requirements (November 2005): Minimum Early Childhood Education (ECE) Preservice Qualifications and Annual Ongoing Training Hours for Teachers and Master Teachers http://nccic.org/pubs/cclicensingreq/cclr-teachers.pdf
National Child Care Information Center (2005). Child Care Licensing Requirements (November 2005), Directors in Child Care Centers: Type of Training in Early Childhood Education. http://nccic.org/pubs/licensingtables/dir-type.html
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What are the qualifications and training requirements for family child care providers in 2005?
Setting |
Role |
Number of States that Require
Pre-Service Qualifications |
Number of States that Require
Annual Ongoing Hours |
Family Child Care |
Small Family Child Care Home Provider |
9 |
36 |
Large Family Child Care Home Provider1 |
14 |
37 |
1A large family child care home is defined as two or more providers (or one provider and one or more adult assistants) legally caring for one or more unrelated children in the residence of one of the providers. In addition, there must be a child:staff ratio requirement the either stipulates that more than one adult must be present at all times or that is based on the ages of the children in care.
Source: National Child Care Information Center (2002). Child Care Licensing in Summary http://nccic.org/pubs/licensingtables/fcc-graphs.pdf
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How many early childhood education teachers have degrees or college-level education?
- In 2004, 70% teachers and administrators working in center-based early childhood education had some college-level education; one-third had a bachelor’s degree.
- Overall, in 2004, 58% of early childhood educators had some college-level education or higher.
Setting |
Role |
Percentage of Workforce |
Child Care Centers1 |
Center Teachers and Administrators |
Bachelor’s Degree or more |
30% |
Some College (including Associate’s degree) |
40% |
12th grade |
26% |
High School or less |
4% |
All Center-Based Educators |
Bachelor’s Degree or more |
19% |
Some College (including Associate’s degree) |
39% |
12th grade |
33% |
High School or less |
9% |
Home-Based Child Care2 |
All Home-Based Providers |
Bachelor’s Degree or more |
11% |
Some College (including Associate’s degree) |
32% |
High School or less |
56% |
1Center-based includes child care centers, Head Start centers, nursery schools, and preschools
2Home-based includes family/group child care homes and private household child care workers
Source: Economic Policy Institute. Losing Ground in Early Childhood Education: Declining Workforce Qualifications in an Expanding Industry, 1979-2004. (2005) http://www.epinet.org/studies/ece/losing_ground-full_text.pdf
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What is the average median hourly wage for teachers in early childhood programs?
- Child care workers: $7.90 per hour
- Preschool teachers: $9.53 per hour
Source: Center for Childcare and the Workforce, Current Data on the Salaries and Benefits of the U.S. Early Childhood Education Workforce: 2004. Data compiled from BLS’s Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) Survey, 2003. http://ccw.cleverspin.com/pubs/2004Compendium.pdf
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What is the national turnover rate?
The average national turnover rate is 30% for all teaching staff.
Source: Center for the Child Care Workforce, 2001
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How many states are implementing the elements of a career development system for the early childhood workforce?
- 19 states have career development systems
- 11 of these 19 states have career lattices
Source: National Child Care Information Center, State Professional Development Systems and Initiatives for the Early Childhood Workforce. (April 2006) http://nccic.acf.hhs.gov/pubs/goodstart/state-ece.pdf
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How many states are implementing the Child Care WAGE$® Project?
As of 2006, four states were implementing the Child Care WAGE$ Project: North Carolina, Florida, Kansas, and South Carolina.
Source: Child Care Services Association. http://www.childcareservices.org/ps/wage.html
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How many states are implementing the TEACH® Early Childhood Project?
22 states are implementing the TEACH® Early Childhood Project in 2006.
Source: Child Care Services Association, http://www.childcareservices.org/ps/state_contacts.html
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How many teachers work in public elementary and secondary schools (K-12)?
- There were 3,250,600 teachers working in public elementary and secondary schools in the 2002-2003 academic year1.
- In 2003-2004, 54.7% of teachers working in public elementary schools had just a bachelor’s degree. 48.1% had a master’s degree or higher.
1Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Characteristics of Schools, Districts,Teachers, Principals, and School Libraries in the United States 2003-04 Schools and Staffing Survey. (April 2006) http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2006/2006313.pdf
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