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NWLC: Updated Labor Statistics Show Alarming Decline in Child Care Workers as Funding Cliff Approaches
Washington, DC – The latest jobs report from the Department of Labor that was released on Friday included revised data revealing that the number of child care workers has been largely in decline since March 2024, a shift from late last year, when the sector finally recouped its pandemic-related job losses.
Staffing shortages in child care persisted well before the pandemic, and child care programs have reported that the problem has worsened since billions of dollars for child care in the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) expired last September. The remainder of that funding is set to expire on September 30, 2024.
The latest jobs report also reveals the share of Americans who were absent from work because of child care difficulties remained high, as employment in child care services has not been nearly enough to match the demand.
“The adjusted figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics on the child care workforce should serve as a wakeup call to any policymaker who is concerned about children and families in this country,” said Melissa Boteach, vice president of child care & income security at the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC). “Child care workers are one of the worst paid professions in the country, despite their essential work to care for our youngest generation. To reverse this alarming trend, Congress must redouble its efforts to increase pay for early educators, including by passing $16 billion in emergency child care funding.”
NWLC is leading efforts to secure $16 billion per year in emergency supplemental funding to mitigate the impacts of expired/expiring ARPA child care funding. A data analysis from NWLC released in May suggests that the funding cliff is making it harder for families to access child care. NWLC is also actively tracking the impacts of the loss of federal ARPA funding on child care providers across the country.
