Early childhood workers nationally earn around $13 per hour, and many said they rely on public assistance to get by and support their families.
Melanie Barker, founder of the Kentucky Association of Child Care Owners, said that because of federal stimulus funding, the Commonwealth’s rate is slightly higher. Still, she expects more centers to close when they are forced to lower salaries and can’t attract workers.
"Now that the stimulus funds are gone, now child care centers are trying to scramble," Barker pointed out. "How are we going to continue to pay $20 an hour when we're not even bringing that in, in the classroom?"
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects child care worker employment will decline 3% over the next decade. Wages for early educators are rising more slowly than wages in other industries, including fast food and retail, according to data from the University of California-Berkeley’s Center for the Study of Child Care Employment.
Barker noted that, unlike public schools, child care centers are responsible for all expenses and are required to have a certain ratio of staff for infants, leading to financial pressure and higher tuition rates. She added that in other states, local governments are coming up with strategies to boost compensation and retain workers with programs aimed at supplementing their wages.
"Child care is not about money, but in order to operate, you have to be able to have money to pay employees," Barker emphasized. "With the ratios for infants and ones, you can't make it."
The ongoing decline in affordable childcare is expected to hurt the state’s workforce. According to one report analyzing U.S. Census data, nationally in 2024, 16% of moms who wanted to work but had children younger than six said they were not actively job searching because they could not arrange childcare.