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Toward a Competent, Stable Child Care Workforce

Every state is grappling with the same problem: there aren’t enough child care workers, and the ones doing the job are underpaid and unlikely to stay. That shortage restricts how many children a provider can serve, even when classroom space is available, and it ripples into the broader economy every time a parent can’t find care or can’t get to work.

Fixing this requires a professional child care workforce supported by clear roles, defined competencies, pathways for career growth, and financing built to last. Using the 10-step framework from the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Top-Down, Bottom-Up report, this analysis grades all 50 states and DC on how far they’ve come in building that system.

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       Download the Report     Download Source Data     Download Executive Summary

Find Your State's Child Care Workforce Fact Sheet

Every state and DC was graded on the same 10 steps. Click your state on the map below to download its individual fact sheet, including its full score, ranking, and a breakdown of where it stands on workforce definitions, competencies, data systems, career pathways, financing, and other workforce supports.
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Child Care Trust™
America’s child care system is holding our country back and hurting everyone—children, families, child care providers, communities, and employers. The challenges are well documented. What the country lacks is not more evidence of the problem—but a clear, actionable path forward. To meet this moment, Child Care Aware® of America has launched the Child Care Trust™—an independent, national catalyst for designing the child care system of the future. It will be led by nationally renowned child care expert, Linda K. Smith.