Child care allows families to work and go to school, and it supports children’s development, school readiness, and later success. But without public investment, low wages leave many child care programs unable to recruit and retain the professionals needed to serve families and children. High turnover raises program costs, can close classrooms and programs, and disrupts the stable caregiver relationships important for children’s healthy development.
In 2025, King County, Washington, launched the Best Starts for Kids Child Care Wage Boost Pilot to demonstrate how government investment can benefit child care, its workforce, families, and the community.
This fact sheet provides five key takeaways from our research on the pilot’s first year (see Additional Reading on next page for more information, including our methods). Our research shows that wage supplements reduced job searching and financial hardship and improved some measures of emotional well-being. Participants and directors also described benefits for staff retention and caregiving quality.
Before the Pilot, low wages and limited benefits were the main reasons child care professionals looked for other jobs
The child care workforce receives low wages and few benefits. In King County, most positions are not paid an income equivalent to living wages for a one-adult household. Among the 27 percent of surveyed child care professionals who looked for or considered a new job, pay and benefits were their top reasons.
One director shared optimism that the pilot could address this: “I’m excited that maybe our teachers won’t quit due to not being able to afford to live on the wages that our program provides.”
Because of the Pilot, child care professionals were less likely to look for a new job
Pilot participation reduced job searching by 38 percent, with four in five participants who enrolled at the start of the pilot still at their jobs a year later.
Four in five participating directors said the pilot made it easier to retain their best staff, and two-thirds said it made their staff better able to provide high-quality interactions with children.
One director shared, “We were going to lose really valuable staff, but when we got the wage boost, they stayed. If they left, it would have taken a lot to train someone new. Because retention is so good right now, we're able to build and scaffold on what we do, we're not spending so much time in that cycle of training ... now we're on another level as a team.”
The Pilot improved child care professionals’ financial well-being
The Wage Boost Pilot reduced recipients’ financial hardship by 20 percent. Nearly all surveyed recipients (95 percent) said the wage boost made it easier to afford housing, utilities, and bills, while two-thirds said it was easier to save money. About a quarter reported the wage boost payments let them quit their second or third job.
One program supervisor shared, “It has helped with my transportation costs and upkeep on my car so I can get to work. This was a high burden. Tolls and gas are not something work helps to pay for and a lot of my paycheck was going to transportation. The boost helped offset that.”
The Pilot improved child care professionals’ emotional well-being
Overall, the child care workforce reported positive workplace views and a sense of accomplishment and thriving.
The Wage Boost Pilot reduced child care professionals’ high depression symptoms by 38 percent. This improvement can support their capacity to respond to children’s needs. The wage boost did not significantly affect participants’ stress levels, however.
One teacher shared, “The payments provide a sense of being valued and recognized for the work we do. Even if the amount does not fully close the wage gap, receiving consistent support helps reduce stress and improves overall well-being.”
Pilot participants valued the payments and emphasized the importance of continued investment in the child care workforce
Three in four pilot participants said the payments made them feel more pride, joy, and appreciation in their work; that they were better able to focus on the needs and development of children and their care; and that they planned to work at their current job for longer than they otherwise would have.
Pilot participants and those who did not participate in the pilot both called for continued investments in improving compensation—including higher pay and greater access to benefits.
One teacher explained why investing in the workforce matters for high-quality education: “People are going to continue having children, and they're going to need high-quality education, but you can't do that without teachers, and unfortunately, the field itself doesn't pay a living sustainable wage.”
