Early Care and Education Workers' Experience and Stress during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Emilee L Quinn,Bert Stover,Jennifer J Otten,Noah Seixas

doi:10.3390/ijerph19052670

Emilee L Quinn, Bert Stover + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19052670

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Abstract

Early care and education (ECE) workers experience many job-related stressors. During the COVID-19 pandemic, ECE programs either closed or remained open while workers faced additional demands. We deployed a survey of the center-based ECE workforce in Washington State (United States) one year into the COVID-19 pandemic to assess impacts and workers’ perceived stress levels. We describe the prevalence of reported impacts, including workplace closures; job changes; COVID-19 transmission; risk factors for severe COVID-19; the use of social distancing practices; satisfaction with workplace responses; perceptions of worker roles, respect, and influence; and food and financial insecurity. Themes from open-ended responses illustrate how workers’ jobs changed and the stressors that workers experienced as a result. Fifty-seven percent of ECE workers reported moderate or high levels of stress. In a regression model assessing unique contributions to stress, work changes that negatively impacted home life contributed most to stress. Feeling respected for one’s work and feeling positive about one’s role as an “essential worker” contributed to lower levels of stress. Experiencing financial insecurity, caring for school-aged children or children of multiple ages, being younger, and being born in the United States also contributed to higher stress. Findings can inform policies designed to support the workforce.

Highlights

Care and education (ECE) workers comprise a critical workforce that was especially vulnerable during the novel coronavirus pandemic
Despite the vital role of Early care and education (ECE) workers, the predominantly female workforce earns some of the lowest wages of all job sectors, receives minimal benefits, experiences high rates of turnover, and is more likely than the general population to rely on safety net programs such as Medicaid [3–6]
ECE worker respondents were slightly more likely than non-respondents to be in an administrator position (20% compared to 10%) and white (66% compared to 59%)

Summary

Introduction

Care and education (ECE) workers comprise a critical workforce that was especially vulnerable during the novel coronavirus pandemic. Despite the vital role of ECE workers, the predominantly female workforce earns some of the lowest wages of all job sectors, receives minimal benefits, experiences high rates of turnover, and is more likely than the general population to rely on safety net programs such as Medicaid [3–6]. The ECE workforce faces relatively high exposure to infectious disease and high rates of poor physical and mental health [4,7–10]. In 2020, the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic brought these dynamics to the national forefront [11]. Many ECE programs were forced to close due to the combined effects of decreased demand for care, mandated business closures, and preventative public health regulations that led to reduced revenue and increased costs [12,13]. Other programs remained open and grappled with how to serve children and families with considerable uncertainty and more demands related to meeting the needs of the children in their care [13]

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