Giving Compass' Take:
- Lillian Mongeau and Jackie Mader write about how the pandemic has exacerbated difficulties for childcare workers, who often earned low wages and struggled with stress and mental health even before the pandemic.
- How would expanding access to free and subsidized pre-K affect childcare workers? How can you support childcare businesses and workers near you?
- Read about the importance of early childhood care and education.
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Child care workers, the vast majority of whom are women, have always faced a long list of pressures.
A 2012 study found that Head Start teachers, who serve children from low-income families, were more likely than their peers to have diagnosed depression and physical health conditions like high blood pressure and asthma. A 2019 study found early childhood workers experience poor mental well-being and high rates of food insecurity. Many child care center employees lack paid sick leave, family leave and make low wages. For those working through the pandemic, that stress has only increased.
“Families are happy, kids are happy, the teachers and I are completely exhausted,” said Tiffany Pearsall, the director of a child care center in Carson, Washington. “I don’t have the bandwidth for daily life anymore.”
Read the full article about childcare workers by Lillian Mongeau and Jackie Mader at The Hechinger Report.