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<p>Finding high quality, affordable child care is a struggle for families. Meanwhile, low wages make it unaffordable to work in the field. This dynamic of low supply and high demand creates high costs for families. Real wages lag behind other industries and workload demands remain high. Low wages, high demands, lack of benefits, and policy decisions impact the well-being of the workforce, leading to stress, burnout, and mental and physical challenges. This study seeks to ascertain the experiences of early childhood educators regarding recruitment and retention efforts in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants (<i>n</i> = 53) were recruited from within the state of Ohio and included current or recent early childhood educators, including both teachers and administrators. Using qualitative and quantitative analysis, researchers identified four themes with 16 sub-themes: motivations for entering/ staying/ leaving the field, staffing challenges, impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, and factors contributing to turnover. Findings reinforce and illustrate evidence that low compensation and high work demands continue to affect the recruitment and retention of staff in the early childhood sector and were worsened by the pandemic. Although situated in Ohio, these patterns mirror international evidence that inadequate compensation, rising administrative demands, and post-pandemic stressors are driving ECE staffing shortages across diverse systems. We recommend policies to adequately address these issues to support the child care workforce.</p>

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Wages and Well-Being: Ohio Child Care Providers' Experiences with Staffing Recruitment and Retention Efforts During the Post-Pandemic Era

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年3月3日

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  • Tiffany Rowland,
  • Amy Wolfe,
  • Jennifer Creque-Blackburn

摘要

Finding high quality, affordable child care is a struggle for families. Meanwhile, low wages make it unaffordable to work in the field. This dynamic of low supply and high demand creates high costs for families. Real wages lag behind other industries and workload demands remain high. Low wages, high demands, lack of benefits, and policy decisions impact the well-being of the workforce, leading to stress, burnout, and mental and physical challenges. This study seeks to ascertain the experiences of early childhood educators regarding recruitment and retention efforts in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants (n = 53) were recruited from within the state of Ohio and included current or recent early childhood educators, including both teachers and administrators. Using qualitative and quantitative analysis, researchers identified four themes with 16 sub-themes: motivations for entering/ staying/ leaving the field, staffing challenges, impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, and factors contributing to turnover. Findings reinforce and illustrate evidence that low compensation and high work demands continue to affect the recruitment and retention of staff in the early childhood sector and were worsened by the pandemic. Although situated in Ohio, these patterns mirror international evidence that inadequate compensation, rising administrative demands, and post-pandemic stressors are driving ECE staffing shortages across diverse systems. We recommend policies to adequately address these issues to support the child care workforce.