Child care workers in U.S. averaged $18,820 in 2006

Child care workers typically earn less than locker-room attendants and service-station workers, pulling in $18,820 a year in 2006, according to a report released Thursday.

In Washington, child care workers fared a little better, as their average salary was $19,710 in 2006, according to data released by the American Federation of Teachers. Among all states, Washington actually had the 15th-highest average salary for child care workers.

Despite recent attention about the importance of early education, the hourly rate of the industry's arguably most important people, child care workers with some college education, rose only 39 cents over the last 35 years, AFT said.

The pay gap highlights an economic flaw in the child care business. Although parents pay as much as $15,000 a year for a spot, workers are often paid little and do not always receive benefits.

"This has been a problem we have been trying to solve for 18 years, and we haven't figured out how to do it," said Nina Auerbach, chief executive at Seattle-based Child Care Resources. In Washington, state and private foundations have been pouring money and attention into early-learning programs in recent years. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is at the front of an initiative that will spend $12 million in the White Center neighborhood on child care programs.

Two years ago, Gov. Chris Gregoire created the Department of Early Learning to tackle the problem.

Preschool teachers, who fall into a different job category, fared a little better, with an average salary of $24,784, the teachers union reported. Washington preschool salaries were the 15th-highest in the nation.

To help address the problem, Auerbach said industry officials are discussing the idea that the network of early learning centers and schools could be subsidized in a similar fashion to the nation's kindergarten-through-12th-grade system. Auerbach added that there are a range of sources for this new revenue.

The nation's worst paid child care workers are in Arkansas, where their average salary is $14,590.

The District of Columbia was home to the highest paid child care salaries, with pay at $22,850.

MORE INFORMATION

To read the American Federation of Teachers findings on child care pay in the United States, visit aft.org/earlychildhood/salary-data.htm.