November 2013

A research brief released at the end of October from the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services provides the first nationally representative portrait of early care and education teachers and caregivers working directly with children from birth through age 5.

“Number and Characteristics of Early Care and Education (ECE) Teachers and Caregivers: Initial Findings From the National Survey of Early Care and Education (NSECE)“ reveals that the ECE workforce in 2012 comprised about one million teachers and caregivers who were directly responsible for children aged zero through 5 in center-based programs, one million paid home-based teachers and caregivers working with the same age group, and 2.7 million unpaid, home-based teachers and caregivers responsible for children not their own regularly for at least five hours per week.

Households with children under age 13, home-based ECE providers, and center-based ECE providers were all surveyed. The NSECE was designed to provide important information in three broad categories of the ECE workforce about which essential data were lacking. This research brief examines (a) the size of the workforce working with pre-kindergarten children and the settings in which these individuals are employed, and (b) the qualifications, compensation, hours of work, and occupational attachment of this workforce. A later brief will cover (c) attitudes, orientations, morale, and mental health of ECE teachers and caregivers.

The NSECE is a set of four integrated and nationally representative surveys conducted in 2012. They surveyed (1) households with children under 13, (2) home-based providers of ECE, (3) center-based providers of ECE, and (4) the center-based provider workforce.