This National ECE Workforce Center research-to-practice brief describes new analyses of the 2019 National Survey of Early Care and Education (NSECE) investigating the types of benefits packages offered to center-based early educators. This brief summarizes the impact benefits packages have on educator well-being and shares innovations from states that can support flexible and sustainable provision of benefits packages.
Key findings:
- Research shows that benefits such as health insurance, retirement plans, and professional mentoring can support educator well-being. However, center-based staff receive a broad range of benefits that may not meet all their needs.
- Our analysis of the most recent NSECE uncovered that the benefits early educators receive varies by how their center is funded; for example, programs receiving public funding for ECE (e.g., Head Start, public pre-K) are more likely to offer health insurance and retirement plans than community-based centers.
- States and programs can be innovative in how they are using existing public funds or programs to provide benefits to early educators. This brief offers considerations for state leaders and center directors on supporting early educators’ access to benefits.
