In quotes: the struggle to hire child care workers – in graphs

“According to the latest data, in September 2023, the child care sector was still down about 39,400 workers compared with February 2020 levels. At the rate at which jobs have been regained in 2023 so far, it would take almost 12 months—until September 2024—for the child care sector to recover pandemic-related job losses.”

“When looking over a longer time horizon, the impacts of the COVID-19 recession and the sector’s slow recovery are even clearer: If the sector had continued its pre-pandemic trajectory—and the pandemic recession had not occurred—there would be more than 150,000 additional jobs within the industry.”

— “The Child Care Sector Is Still Struggling To Hire Workers,” by Rose Khattar and Maureen Coffey, Center for American Progress, October 19, 2023