The Working Conditions and Well-Being of Early Educators During the COVID-19 Pandemic

• In Event: Exploring the Experiences and Impacts of COVID-19 on Parents, Educators, and Programs for Young Children

Abstract

Introduction
Across the country, a large proportion of early educators are economically distressed and work in settings that undermine their physical and emotional health, which existed prior to and has now been exacerbated by the pandemic (Austin et al., 2019; Boyd, 2015). For centers and family child care programs, many of which were on the brink of financial collapse pre-pandemic, complete shutdown during COVID-19 was not an option (Schulman, 2020; NAEYC, 2020a). Thus, many programs remained open to serve essential workers or reopened quickly out of financial necessity. However, the impacts of the pandemic on educators’ well-being and their working conditions in both center- and home-based settings remain largely unexamined. The research question guiding the study: how do early educators assess their working conditions and does it vary by program setting, educator (e.g. race and ethnicity, educational attainment, tenure) or program characteristics (e.g. participation in QRIS, funding)

Methods
To understand the experiences of the ECE workforce during the pandemic, including the effects on educators’ work environments, a survey was administered to participants in a Western state in winter 2022. The survey was developed to elicit the voices of teaching staff themselves, which are often excluded, to understand their perspectives of their work environments and to identify supports and workplace conditions that impact their practice and well-being. Additionally, to capture influences of the pandemic and resulting programmatic or policy changes, the study also included questions related to COVID-19 impacts and captured demographic (e.g. age, race/ethnicity) and workforce characteristics (e.g. educational attainment, tenure) to place findings into context. The sample includes 395 FCC providers, 116 FCC assistants, 56 center directors, and 485 center teaching staff (e.g. teachers and assistants/ aides).

Results
Findings will include: the demographics and characteristics of the workforce, the current status of early educator compensation and financial well-being; educators’ assessment of working environments, access to on-the-job supports, and well-being, and how these assessments vary by educator and center characteristics). Preliminary analysis reveals that educators, regardless of program setting, worried about their economic well-being and health and safety, and also reported challenges around insufficient staffing. For example, 87% of center teaching staff and 47% of providers worried about families sending sick children to their programs because parents need child care to work. Additionally, 77% of center teaching staff and 34% of providers worried about exposing their own families to COVID-19 while their program was opened.

Implications
To develop a well-informed set of post-pandemic policies and programs that addresses quality within early care and education settings, it is vital to fully understand the current working conditions and experiences of the early educator workforce. This study sheds light on the experiences of educators and provides recommendations for improving environments in which early childhood teaching staff work and learn. In light of new investments in the ECE field, states and communities re-envisioning their ECE policies will benefit from data that focus on the needs of educators and the opportunities to better support them in their crucial work.

Authors

• Marisa Schlieber, Center for the Study of Child Care Employment, University of California, Berkeley
  Presenting Author

• Tobi Adejumo

• Jenna Knight, University of California - Berkeley