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Study: Child-care workers' wages stagnant, turnover high
April 29, 1998
Web posted at: 12:28 p.m. EDT (1628 GMT)In this story:
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Staff turnover averaged nearly one-third at child-care centers in the United States last year, partly due to near-poverty wages that have remained stagnant for a decade, according to a report released Wednesday.
The report by the Center for the Child Care Workforce, a Washington-based day-care workers' advocacy group, also raises questions about the qualifications of some child-care workers, noting that more than one-third of the day-care centers in the United States employ welfare recipients.
The sponsor of child-care legislation in the Senate, Rhode Island Republican John Chaffee, says the study is disturbing, but does not warrant federal legislation mandating what child care workers should be paid.
President Clinton's latest budget proposal includes new spending for training day-care workers.
"Since child-care workers are the key to quality, (the study) begins to make you understand why quality remains low," said Faith Wohl, president of the Child Care Action Campaign, a New York-based advocacy group.
Wohl was familiar with the results but did not participate in the research.
Low pay
Researchers have found that the quality of day care is a critical factor in determining how well children learn and communicate In 1988, the Center for the Child Care Workforce studied 230 day-care providers and found that most care was barely adequate. It also found that centers providing better care were paying workers more and had lower turnover.
During the last nine years, centers have received more public funding.
Independent for-profit centers received 10 percent more income from public funds, while for-profit chains got 17 percent more and nonprofits received 4 percent more public funding. The study didn't give specific amounts for this public funding .
But wages have grown stagnant. According to the study:
- The lowest-paid day-care assistants earn about $6 an hour today -- only a penny more an hour than they did nine years ago; parking lot attendants today earn $6.38 an hour. Child-care assistants do not have primary responsibility for children in classroom settings.
- The lowest-paid day-care teachers earn about $7.50 an hour, 12 cents more than 1988, and $13,125 per year today. The highest-paid teachers earn $10.85 an hour, $1.32 more than in 1988. The teachers have primary responsibility for children in classrooms.
Most child-care workers, therefore, earn on average little more than the $12,803 poverty level wage for a family of three.
In addition, about half of the child-care centers surveyed did not provide employee health benefits.
High turnover
Brenda Lopez, director of a nonprofit San Francisco day-care center, said her program received $388,000 from the state this fiscal year, just $8,000 more than last year.
"You could say that's an increase," she laughed. She said private funding helps boost hourly wages at her center to between $10.50 and $12.50.
Low wages -- along with the high demands of the job -- in turn cause high turnover, which adds strain to centers that must train and find new help.
On average, centers lost 31 percent of their staff last year, according to the study, which showed that only 32 percent of day-care instructors have been in their center for five years or more.
Welfare recipients hired
Many empty slots are now being filled by welfare recipients as a result of the recent push to empty the rolls in many states. The study found that 35 percent of centers now employ welfare recipients.
But since fewer than half of centers provide on-site training for welfare recipients and since wages are so low, such jobs are an unlikely route out of poverty.
Without training and prior qualifications, "they're unlikely to be ... a good child-care worker -- educated, trained, and wanting to be in the field," said Deborah Phillips, director of the Board on Children, Youth and Families at the National Academy of Sciences and a co-author of the study.
Clearly, the study said, child care needs more attention.
"America depends on child-care teachers and providers," said Marcy Whitebook, co-director of the Center for the Child Care Workforce. "And our future depends on valuing them."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Related stories:
- Hidden cameras help parents keep eye on nannies - April 5, 1998
- Better child care, better behavior - April 3, 1998
- Dr. Spock's baby-care advice for parents - March 16, 1998
Related sites:
Note: Pages will open in a new browser window
- Administration for Children and Families - Child Care Bureau
- Building America's Child Care Infrastructure By Senator Herb Kohl
- Legislation and Policy Impacting Child Care
- National Child Care Information Center
- Child Care Experts Network
- Parent Soup: Finding Good Child Care
- Parenting Q & A - Child Care
External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.
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