The Child-Care and Preschool Workforce: Demographics, Earnings, and Unequal Distribution

Abstract
America's early education sector remains so radically decentralized—a far flung archipelago of pre-schools, family child-care homes, and subsidized individuals providing services-that basic information on local organizations and staff members remains scarce. This, despite rising policy interest in, and skyrocketing appropriations for, preschool programs which are aimed at boosting children's school readiness. Working from a social ecology framework, this study aimed to learn more about local populations of early education organizations. This paper uses 1990 household census data aggregated to the zip-code level to report on features of the early education workforce nationwide. Teachers and other staff in preschools and center-based programs reported low wages, averaging about $7,300 per year ($10,700 in 2000 dollars), with most working less than full time. The median center-based teacher was 34 years of age, reported having completed some college, and was married. The median worker in family child-care homes earned even less and only had a high school diploma. About 15% of all preschool teachers in urban areas were African-American; about 8% were Latina. Twice as many preschool and center teachers per 1,000 young children resided in affluent zip codes, relative to poor and lower middle-class areas. Preschools and centers located in blue-collar and middle-income zip codes displayed the lowest level of organizational formalization, compared to those operating in poor or affluent areas. We discuss the utility of 2000 census data to assess inequalities in the supply and quality of early education organizations and their staff, and modeling how economic and policy forces may shape organizational variability.