Guaranteed income (GI) pilots are increasing in popularity in cities and counties nationwide to improve compensation for early educators. By design, GI pilots focus on providing direct cash to participants with no strings attached.
Direct cash is also a strategy sometimes used in early care and education (ECE) to increase income and help talented early educators stay in the field. Known as a wage supplement, it provides payments to educators based on their ECE employment.
Bold action is needed to retain and expand the pool of talented early educators. While some state policy changes are being discussed, they will likely take several years to unfold. As a consequence, county-level action is not only necessary, but urgent.
This report provides a framework for Contra Costa County to launch a wage supplement pilot. The concept includes details on a proposed pilot design and a framework for pilot implementation, evaluation, and budget.
Suggested Citation
Powell, A. (2024). Designing a Wage Increase Pilot: A Framework for Supporting Early Educators in Contra Costa County. Center for the Study of Child Care Employment, University of California, Berkeley. https://cscce.berkeley.edu/publications/report/contra-costa-ece-wage-pilot/
