The project was sponsored by Early Milestones Colorado as part of Transforming the Early Childhood Workforce in Colorado, an innovative public-private project to advance the early childhood workforce in Colorado. The full report can be found here.
Among the study’s findings:
• The average annual income of childcare workers in Colorado is just above the poverty threshold for a family of four and well below self-sufficiency standards for one adult, one preschooler and one school-age child.
• The early care and education industry is unique because it enables parents to work, generating over $4.4 billion in earnings across the economy.
• Because the wages of early care and education professionals are so low, many receive public subsidies to make ends meet. We estimate this costs the state of Colo
• Potential innovative solutions to address this market failure include improving counties’ tiered reimbursement structures to incentivize quality and the provision of care for infants and toddlers