Louisville Childcare Workforce Study Indicates Lack Of Instructors At Youngest Levels

Louisville’s Early Learning Workforce Study has just wrapped up, completing a critical part in the city’s plans to implement universal pre-kindergarten (pre-k) schooling for all three- and four-year-olds in the city.

“The goal has always been to make sure every family has access to high-quality early learning options for their children,” said Mayor Greenberg in a statement on Monday, July 22. “Findings from this study on childcare capacity, quality, and workforce demographics will ensure that we are well-equipped to meet the needs of our youngest learners and their families.”

Those findings were specifically concerned with data on Louisville’s early learning workforce, which showed insights into the challenges faced by childcare providers over the past year. Some highlights include:

• 47% of teachers left their centers in the past year:
• 30% of early learning teaching staff and 30% of family childcare providers earn a total family income of less than $30,000:
• 22% of teachers expressed uncertainty about their future in the field within the next three years:
• 11% of teachers and 13% of assistant teachers, working full-time, hold additional jobs to make ends meet.

There was a wide range of teaching staff in each childcare facility across the City of Louisville, with some facilities only having one administrator for the entire operation, while others had up to 45 other workers within their programs, which gave more time and attention to each child.

Also according to the 37-page study, most family child care providers offered evenings (73%) as their overwhelming number of children at their facilities, while other times including overnight, drop-in, legal holidays, weekends and sick children followed behind all under 40%.

Many early childhood learning centers in Louisville did not have fully paid health insurance. Across the city, only 4% of all workers in early childhood care had access to fully paid insurance. However, that number jumps to 34% if given partially paid health insurance.