Iredell County Partnership for Young Children’s Comprehensive Benefits Plan
by Lisa Familo, Executive Director, The Iredell County Partnership for Young Children
The Need
COVID-19 has exposed the fragility of our early education workforce, all of which predated the arrival of the pandemic. Early childhood educators are the workforce behind the workforce, and they have been on the frontlines of this crisis from day one, risking their own health to care for children and support working families. Despite their essential role, early childhood educators remain woefully underpaid and undervalued for the critically important work they do for children’s learning during their earliest years, a time when science shows children’s brains are developing the fastest, setting a foundation for all future learning, school readiness, and school success.
Early childhood educators are 7 times more likely to live in poverty than public school kindergarten teachers. A startling 53% of the child care workforce in Iredell County receives public benefits as their wages hover at the $11 mark and 1 in 5 teachers do not have health insurance or access to paid sick leave to care for themselves or their own family.
Young children depend on stable, secure relationships and continuity of care to support their development. But with low pay and few benefits, turnover is high and qualified educators are leaving the field at high rates. Iredell County is facing an acute workforce shortage and the talent pipeline is shrinking as fewer people than ever are pursuing a degree in the early childhood field.
The Solution
Iredell County’s economic recovery and future prosperity depend on a strong early childhood workforce and child care system. Professional compensation and benefits are needed to recruit and retain a high-quality early childhood workforce, supporting families’ ability to work and fostering economic recovery. New public-private partnerships will strengthen the quality and expand the supply of child care, supporting families’ ability to work and fostering economic recovery.
The Iredell County Partnership for Young Children (ICPYC) recognizes that professional compensation and benefits are needed to recruit and retain a high-quality early childhood workforce and are proud to offer Comprehensive Benefits Plan, a program dedicated to providing the essential workforce supports necessary to sustain the early childhood industry.
