Employment of Child Care Workers Has Steadily Declined

Excerpt from a post by The Center for Law and Social Policy

Employment of child care workers has steadily declined since 2011, a trend exacerbated by the pandemic
By: Jessica Milli

While the late 1990s and 2000s ushered in a significant increase in the employment of child care workers[1] of 79 percent, from about 353,000 in 1997 to 631,000 in 2011, employment peaked in 2011 and has seen a slow decline since then. By 2019, employment had dropped by 11 percent compared with 2011 (Figure 1).

The pandemic only accelerated these trends with the closure of child care programs across the country. Between 2019 and 2020 alone, employment of child care workers decreased by 67,000 (12 percent; Figure 1). And according to recent jobs reports, the child care workforce is still more than 10 percent below its pre-pandemic levels.[2] This is particularly troubling not just because overall employment across sectors is only about 2 percent below its pre-pandemic levels but also because of the huge unmet need for affordable and accessible child care among parents.

Figure 1. Total Employment of Child Care Workers by Year, 1997-2021

Source: Why Investing in Child Care Providers is Essential for Providers, Children, and Families. (n.d.). CLASP. Retrieved May 16, 2022, from https://www.clasp.org/publications/report/brief/why-investing-in-child-care-providers-is-essential-for-providers-children-and-families/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=email_link&utm_content=baby_monitor_05122022&utm_campaign=Q3_2022_Policy+Center_Resources

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