Unraveling the Complexity of Job Retention in Early Childhood Care and Education: A Mixed Methods Approach

• In Event: Childcare, Work, and Wellbeing: Novel Evidence on Early Investments and Economic Mobility

Abstract

While much is known about the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) sector in the United States, a field plagued with destabilizing issues including low wages, high turnover, and systemic undervaluation of workers, much less is known about what approaches can improve job retention for ECCE workers. This research examines the relationship between job satisfaction and job retention in the ECCE field, focusing on educators in New Jersey who fall below the ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) threshold, a marker of economic instability. Drawing from Herzberg’s motivation-hygiene theory, this research explores how professional development influences job satisfaction and whether it impacts long-term job retention in the sector. While Herzberg’s framework differentiates between factors that drive satisfaction versus those that prevent dissatisfaction, this study critiques and expands on his theory by incorporating a feminist economic lens, which acknowledges the undervaluation of care work and a social justice perspective that highlights systemic inequities in ECCE labor conditions. 

While this study is a mixed methods approach, only the preliminary phase (quantitative analysis) will be presented, which includes secondary analysis of the 2019 National Survey of Early Care and Education. The future qualitative phase incorporates a participatory qualitative method called Story Circles to center lived experiences and shared meaning-making. This method intentionally creates space for educators, many of whom identify as first-generation college students, BIPOC, and/or caregivers themselves, to define for themselves what makes their work meaningful or unsustainable. Findings will contribute to policy discussions on improving job stability, compensation, and professional pathways  to improve job retention rates within the ECCE workforce, ultimately aiming to support the development of equitable reforms that support educators as well as the children, families, and communities they serve.

Author

• Kathleen Fitzsimmons Lopez, Rutgers University - Camden
  Presenting Author