The biennial Early Childhood Workforce Index represents the first effort to establish a baseline description of early childhood employment conditions and policies on a state-by-state basis in order to improve early childhood jobs.

The Index provides a current appraisal of workforce conditions and policies across all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Three topical sections form the bulk of the cross-state analysis: earnings and economic security; early childhood workforce policies; and family and income support policies across occupations. In the section on earnings and economic security, we provide data on early care and education (ECE) workforce pay, noting changes over time. For the remaining two sections, we have identified measurable indicators of state policy for each topic, grouped by categories within each section. These indicators represent opportunities for state policies that have the potential to enhance the lives of the many children and adults affected by ECE employment conditions.

Based on the indicators, we assign states to one of three groups for each category, as follows: