Early Learning Workforce
Early educators are essential to providing children with a high-quality early learning experience that will lay the foundation for their growth and development.
Early education is in crisis.
Early education programs are struggling to stay fully staffed, with many closing their doors or enrolling fewer children. Low pay leads to early educators leaving their jobs, which creates a shortage of programs that working families (and our economy) depend on. Many early educators in our county make an hourly wage that is one-third of what is needed to make ends meet; and yet, these professionals are responsible for educating the next generation of learners.
High-quality early learning programs are critical to positive child development, and the lack of available and affordable programs leave families scrambling. With fewer spaces in early learning programs, parents struggle to stay in the workforce. Recent estimates show that insufficient early education in California costs parents, businesses, and taxpayers $17 billion each year.
Investing in early educator wages is a solid investment strategy for our early educators, our economy, and for our children.
Wage-boosting programs are a crucial part of the solution. Learn more about First 5 Contra Costa’s proposed pilot called 4E Contra Costa, an innovative wage-boosting solution for retaining early educators:
Learn more about the research behind this proposed wage boost pilot for early educators