Research summary: Workforce experiences of early childhood educators

Title of the report: Workforce experiences impacting recruitment and retention among early childhood educators

Authors of the report: Charlaine Charron, Sarah Morningstar, Anna-Maria Occhiuto, Kathleen Piovesan, Ivana Previsic and Stéphanie Tourillon-Gingras

Alternate formats

Workforce experiences of early childhood educators [PDF - 276 KB]

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Why this study

Over the past 20 years, international research has shown that recruitment and retention in Early Learning and Child Care (ELCC) workforce is an ongoing challenge in many countries.

A review of ELCC research showed a lack of recent studies focused on Canada. Available research on child care in Canada tends to examine small labour markets, and does not address current social and economic conditions.

Understanding employees' motivations and experiences is key to recruitment and retention in the ELCC workforce. A stable workforce would improve the child-care system and boost economic productivity and women's equality.

What we did

Given that the existing research was primarily quantitative and relied on surveys, there were gaps in understanding educators' motivations and experiences. Added to this are the differences that exist in the ELCC sectors of each province. We used qualitative methodologies to address these research challenges.

Data was collected in 4 provinces:

• British Columbia
• Alberta
• Ontario, and
• Québec

Sample criteria included:

• 50 educators from each province
• half from an urban region and half from rural regions or smaller centres
• 75% from centre based childcare organizations, and 25% from home-based childcare services
• a distribution of:
  • for-profit
  • non-profit, and
  • public childcare services
• 70% Canadian-born participants, and
• 30% participants born outside of Canada

From March to July 2021, data was collected using:

• semi-structured interviews with open-and closed-ended questions, and
• workday reflective diaries

Using these methods provided detailed insights into how ELCC employees felt about their work lives.

What we found

Participants in this study reported significant factors that negatively affected work satisfaction, and therefore the recruitment and retention of educators. These were:

• low pay
• burdensome workload, and
• lack of respect for the work of caring for and educating young children

Low pay was the most significant factor negatively impacting work satisfaction among participants. Low pay contributes to staff instability and staff turnover. This, in turn, contributes to increased workload burden. Most participants told us that their pay was:

• inadequate
• stagnating, and
• not reflecting the value of their work

Many educators relied on additional income sources, including:

• spouses
• second jobs, and
• other family members

Additionally, the lack of adequate benefits was a major stressor for some educators. This was especially concerning given that their work is highly physical and often leads to injuries.

Workload was also a major source of dissatisfaction among participants. The work that was highly satisfying involved engaging with the:

• interests
• emotions, and
• capacities of young children

However, a heavy workload often frustrated educators' ability to attend meaningfully to children in their care.

Despite child-care being vital to Canada's economy and society, most educators felt they were not valued for their highly complex and critically important work. Many felt that this disrespect reflects stereotypes about:

• women's work
• care work, and
• the work of immigrant and racialized women

What it means

Study findings represent the experiences of the 200 educators who participated in the study between March and July 2021. They provide a snapshot of recruitment and retention issues.

According to ELCC educators interrelated problems included:

• low pay
• burdensome workload, and
• lack of respect

They reported that centres can afford only minimum staffing levels and low educator wages. This caused problems such as:

• regular unpaid overtime
• inadequate resources for children with disabilities
• high staff turnover, and
• high ratios of educators to children

Taken together, these conditions had the potential to result in poor learning environments not conducive to achieving education and care goals.

When asked what they thought could improve this situation, educators described a need for a higher level of public investment. They also said that existing child-care funding models limited staffing levels and pay rates. Their experiences are relevant to understanding the work conditions of educators in Canada.

Having been conducted before the full implementation of the new Canada-wide ELCC system, this study may be useful in understanding how investments could best change recruitment and retention issues in the child-care sector.

Contact us

Strategic and Service Policy Branch, Social Policy Directorate, Social Research Division

Email: esdc.nc.sspb.research-recherche.dgpss.cn.edsc@hrsdc-rhdcc.gc.ca