Child care pay gap widens despite policy changes

Brookings reports that despite 35 years of rising wage floors, public pre-K expansions, professionalization mandates, and pandemic relief, the relative economic position of the child care workforce has barely changed. The report says the gap between child care workers’ earnings and women’s earnings widened from roughly $20,000 a year in 1990-1995 to $28,000 by 2020-2025, adjusted for inflation.

The report says earnings grew fastest in home-based care, where median hourly wages doubled in real terms. It also says that segment is shrinking fastest, from nearly 1 in 4 child care workers in 1990 to roughly 1 in 7 today. American Rescue Plan investments temporarily stabilized compensation during the pandemic, but real hourly wages have since returned to baseline and turnover has rebounded to near pre-pandemic levels.

Brookings describes low worker pay and high employee turnover as foundational challenges. The report says these conditions leave families with uneven access to care and providers with persistent recruitment and retention challenges.