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Kansas workforce study: child-care workers report low pay, high turnover despite strong commitment to children
Summary
A statewide study presented to the Senate Early Learning Caucus found child-care providers are passionate about their work but face low pay, food insecurity and persistent turnover; providers called for grants, collaboration and more respect.
Kansas Child Care Training Opportunities (CASEDO) presented findings from a statewide comprehensive workforce study to the Senate Early Learning Caucus, reporting that child-care professionals in Kansas are highly committed to children but face low pay and high turnover.
The study, described by Stephanie Parks of CASEDO, surveyed providers across all 105 counties and held 39 focus groups. "Early childhood care and education professionals are incredibly passionate about young children and families in Kansas," Parks said. The research examined both current and former providers and focused on direct-care professionals in centers and family home child care.
The study sample included what Parks described as "over 5,600" providers (survey) and 39 focus groups. CASEDO noted it provided training and technical assistance to more than 12,000 child-care providers statewide last year. Among survey results presented: about 71% of providers have some collegiate experience; 83% expressed interest in additional training or credentials; and 66% agreed qualifications to become an ECCE (early childhood care and education) professional are reasonable.
Compensation and material conditions emerged as major problems. For full-time center and in-home providers, 36% reported annual earnings under $25,000; 18% hold an additional part-time or full-time job; and more than 27% reported experiencing food insecurity. Among 669 people in the study who had left the field, 72% cited low pay as their reason for leaving, the presentation said.
Providers told researchers they want stronger community supports in three areas: grants (for materials and facility improvements), collaboration (between centers, school districts and licensing partners), and respect. "They want to be viewed as professionals and not babysitters," Parks said, noting family child-care providers seek parity in treatment and reimbursement.
On regulation, Parks said most respondents did not view licensing requirements as the primary barrier. In the survey, just 17% disagreed that startup processes for in-home child care were easy to navigate, and only 9% disagreed that regulations to operate a child-care center were reasonable.
Parks encouraged legislators to use the study data for policy and local planning and offered to provide county-level or role-specific breakdowns on request. She said CASEDO recently became the lead CAPE (career portal and registry) implementation partner and has hired career navigators to support individualized career advancement for providers.
Materials summarizing the full survey questions and results were distributed to caucus members, and Parks said CASEDO can provide more detailed analyses upon request.
