New York has made incredible strides over the past three years to make early care and education more affordable and accessible for families. But educators and providers who work with young children continue to receive lower wages and less robust benefits than their counterparts.

Along with many states and cities making strides toward higher compensation for early childhood educators, New York State has an opportunity to invest in reforms that address pay disparities and systemic inequities for its early childhood education workforce.

The New York Early Childhood Professional Development Institute and New York Works for Children are pleased to release a new report on this issue. In Parity Compensation for New York’s Early Childhood Educators: Recognition and Respect for a Vital Profession, we explore efforts to improve compensation and benefits for early childhood educators.

Read the report

In the report, we examine the results of a compensation and benefits survey conducted by the Aspire Registry of New York State early childhood educators in the spring of 2023. We also outline considerations for the state of New York to sustainably increase compensation for early care and learning professionals — including a career ladder and compensation scale aligned with credentials and experience, high-quality professional development, and more.

We invite you to read the report and, for further discussion on this topic, watch this recording of our panel discussion: