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Compensation & Financial Relief Strategies

Initiatives and investments to ensure compensation equal to the value of early educators’ work

Creating equitable conditions for the early care and education (ECE) workforce requires multiple, integrated strategies. The National ECE Workforce Center recognizes this need and organizes its work around five essential policy areas, or key topics, identified by the Center for the Study of Child Care Employment (CSCCE) Early Childhood Workforce Index as being critical for supporting the ECE workforce and higher-quality services for children and families. Each of these policy areas directly impacts the ECE workforce’s ability to thrive.  

For a deeper dive into the status of compensation and financial relief strategies, including state progress in this space, see the Early Childhood Workforce Index chapter on this topic, and for more resources to support your own efforts to improve access to compensation and financial relief strategies, see the section below. 

Related Resources

All Resources

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A Look at Salary/Wage Scales for the Early Childhood Educator Workforce

This brief from Child Care Services Association provides states and cities with background knowledge to develop early childhood workforce salary […]

Published 2024

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Improving Child Care Compensation Backgrounder 2021

The BUILD Initiative developed this policy brief for state, community, and Tribal leaders to provide them with information on policy […]

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Wage Comparability: A Guide for Conducting a Wage and Fringe Benefits Comparability Survey

This toolkit by the Administration for Children and Families provides Head Start and Early Head Start program leaders with a […]

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Browse Other Key Topics

Financial Resources

Public investment in the ECE workforce and broader ECE system

Qualifications & Educational Support

Policies and pathways that provide consistent standards for educators to achieve higher education

Work Environment Standards

Standards for providing safe and supportive work environments for early educators

Workforce Data

State-level collection of important data on the size, characteristics, and working conditions of the ECE workforce