Pulse development · 2 cited sources · August 14, 2026
Massachusetts Wage Proposal Links Worker Pay to Child-Care Access
Jeff Liebman estimates a $6 per hour wage increase would raise formal child-care enrollment from 53 percent to 65 percent in five years; the state would cover the cost.
A Harvard working paper reported by the Boston Globe surveyed 1,001 Massachusetts mothers and found that 89 percent would use formal child care if they could afford it, compared with the 53 percent of families with children under age 5 who currently use it. Jeff Liebman estimates that raising early-educator wages by $6 per hour would increase formal enrollment from 53 percent to 65 percent in five years. He proposes that Massachusetts cover the increase through Commonwealth Cares for Children rather than charge families more. The proposal is not enacted funding or a measured enrollment gain. It follows a Brookings analysis that found the child-care worker earnings gap with women overall widened from roughly $20,000 a year in 1990-1995 to $28,000 in 2020-2025, adjusted for inflation. The next test is whether state lawmakers fund the wage increase.
Evidence
Each statement shown below is a verified claim this source supports.
- Jeff Liebman estimates that increasing early-educator wages by $6 per hour would raise formal child-care enrollment from 53 percent to 65 percent in five years.
- Liebman says higher wages are necessary to recruit more early educators and expand capacity.
- Liebman proposes that Massachusetts cover the wage increase through Commonwealth Cares for Children rather than charge families more.
- A Harvard study surveyed 1,001 Massachusetts mothers and found that 89 percent would use formal child care if they could afford it, compared with 53 percent of families with children under age 5 who currently use it.
- The Massachusetts wage increase and enrollment change are a proposal and estimate, not enacted funding or a measured enrollment gain.
- Brookings links low worker pay and high turnover to uneven family access and provider recruitment and retention problems.
- Brookings found that the child-care worker earnings gap with women overall widened from roughly $20,000 a year in 1990-1995 to $28,000 in 2020-2025, adjusted for inflation.
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