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Impacts of the Early COVID-19 Pandemic on Illinois’s Childcare Workforce.
Research Brief (Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago)
Goerge, Robert M.
Wiegand, Emily R.
McQuown, David.
Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago.
Briefing Materials
14 p.
Public Domain
Published: February 2022
Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago
1313 East 60th Street
Chicago, IL 60637
Tel: 773/753-5900
Fax: 773/753-5940
Available From:http://www.chapinhall.org
Sponsoring Organization: United States. Administration for Children and Families. Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation.
View: https://www.chapinhall.org/research/childcare-workers-early-covid19/
Download: https://www.chapinhall.org/wp-content/uploads/Brief-early-pandemic-impacts-on-child-care-workforce.pdf
This report presents findings from a study that explored the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the childcare workforce in Illinois in 2020. The study used longitudinal employment data for Illinois childcare workers in 2020 and found about 4,000 fewer workers remained continuously employed (i.e., earned wages in every quarter) throughout 2020 than in 2019; disruptions peaked in the second and third quarter (April– September 2020) and about 10% of workers (about 3,000 people) experienced an employment gap that included one or both of these quarters; and those who remained employed for at least some part of both quarters experienced a sharp drop in wages in the second quarter but wages recovered by the end of the year. Findings also indicate that while some workers experienced only short-term disruptions to employment or wages others did not return to their jobs, and that compared to 2019, about twice as many workers in 2020 stopped receiving reported wages in Illinois altogether. Additional findings indicate childcare workers did not switch industries more frequently in 2020 than in 2019; almost twice as many pandemic cohort workers were out of work altogether in the fourth quarter of 2020; the workers with the lowest wages were most likely to face employment changes or disruptions in 2020; and receipt of unemployment insurance in 2020 was high in all groups, regardless of employment status. 15 references.
Keywords:
COVID-19; DISASTER RESPONSE; WORKER SAFETY; EDUCATION; CHILD CARE WORKERS; CHILD CARE CENTERS; UNEMPLOYMENT; ILLINOIS