[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-seo-583565-105":3,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":80,"doc-detail-583565-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"ok",{"site_id":7,"language":8,"slug":9,"title":10,"keywords":11,"description":12,"schema_data":13,"social_meta":73,"head_meta":75,"extra_data":77,"updated_unix":79},105,"en","whos-paying-now-the-explicit-and-implicit-costs-of-the-current-early-care-and-education-system","Who’s Paying Now? - The Explicit and Implicit Costs of the Current Early Care and Education System","","The report examines the explicit and implicit costs of the current early care and education (ECE) system in the United States and how chronic underfunding harms educators, children, and family economic security. It quantifies government spending (~$34B), household spending (~$42B), and parental income loss (~$30–35B), including related tax revenue impacts. It then estimates benefits and long-run fiscal effects of a transformed, adequately funded ECE system with comparable teacher pay.",{"@graph":14,"@context":72},[15,34,55],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/","Research & Report",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/whos-paying-now-the-explicit-and-implicit-costs-of-the-current-early-care-and-education-system/583565/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/whos-paying-now-the-explicit-and-implicit-costs-of-the-current-early-care-and-education-system/583565.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"Jacob","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-31","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":33},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",{"@type":56,"mainEntity":57},"FAQPage",[58,64,68],{"name":59,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":61},"What are the main economic costs of the current ECE system?","Question",{"text":62,"@type":63},"The report identifies government spending, household spending, household income loss due to reduced paid work, and lost tax revenues.","Answer",{"name":65,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":66},"How much do parents and governments spend on early care and education?",{"text":67,"@type":63},"Public spending is about $34 billion, while parents spend about $42 billion on early care and education.",{"name":69,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":70},"What fiscal and economic benefits does the report project from transforming the ECE system?",{"text":71,"@type":63},"The report estimates that properly funding and compensating ECE teachers would increase teacher wages substantially, raise tax revenues, and deliver fiscal benefits that outweigh costs over the long run.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":74,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":76,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":78,"site_id":7},583565,1792208575,{"code":4,"msg":81,"data":82},"success",[83,87,91,95,100,105,110,114,119,122,126],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":84,"show_sort_weight":85,"slug":86},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":88,"show_sort_weight":89,"slug":90},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":92,"show_sort_weight":93,"slug":94},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":96,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":97,"show_sort_weight":98,"slug":99},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":101,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":102,"show_sort_weight":103,"slug":104},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":106,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":107,"show_sort_weight":108,"slug":109},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":111,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":112,"slug":113},8,30,"research-report",{"id":115,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":118},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":117,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":121},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":123,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":124,"show_sort_weight":123,"slug":125},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":128,"show_sort_weight":96,"slug":129},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":81,"data":131},{"doc_id":78,"user_id":132,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":111,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":33,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":144,"read_time":112,"preview_page_count":4},962084931830,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_a8503ba1806abce46bf441b54a3ca4cd","Who’spaying now?  \nThe explicit and implicit costs of the current early care and education system  \nReport • By Elise Gould and Hunter Blair • January 15, 2020  \nThis report was produced in collaboration with Lea J.E. Austin and Marcy Whitebook of the Center for the Study of Child Care Employment at U.C. Berkeley. This report is a complement to the concurrently published report A Values-Based Early Care and Education System (Gould et al. 2020).  \nThe chronic underfunding of early care and education (ECE) is compromising the well-being of educatorsand the children they teach and threatening the economic security of millions of families in the United States. The current ECE system demands large contributions from the parents of young children, both through payments for ECE services and through forgone income when parents drop out of or reduce their participation in paid labor markets to provide care on their own. Investments from federal, state, and local governments have provided some relief for parents, but those investments have generally been far too small. And while the cost to parents for ECE is high, the current market rates for services are inefficiently low because ECE teachers are underpaid. Nationally, the median hourly wage for ECE teachers is $12.12 (EPI 2019b) .  \nA greater public investment is required to create a comprehensive and high-quality system that works for parents, children, and teachers alike. Gould et al. (2020) estimate the costs of a transformed ECE system—in which teachers are appropriately compensated and programs are of high quality and available to all families—for all 50 states and the District of Columbia, using a variety of data sources.1 All together, the enhanced system—fully phased-in and comprehensive—would require an annual investment in the range of $337 to $495 billion, serving between 11.5 and 16.0 million children.  \nWhile a comprehensive and high-quality ECE system would require a large infusion of dedicated financing, it is important to understand that we are not starting from scratch. A substantial down payment has already been made through the explicit and implicit resources that are currently dedicated to the care and education of young children. This report provides some context for the investment needed for an ECE overhaul by providing a rough count of the money already in the ECE system from direct contributions. We also account for income forgone by families when parents participate in fewer hours of paid work to care for their children.  \n • Washington, DC View this report [at](at epi.org/181729)[ epi.org/181729](at epi.org/181729)  \nFurther, substantial benefits would stem from a fundamental overhaul of the system. Investments in high-quality ECE for our children will pay dividends on this country’s economic future and, even in strictly fiscal terms, these investments will essentially pay for themselves over the course of a couple of decades.  \nMain findings  \nEconomic costs ofthe current ECE system  \n Government spending. Public spending on early care and education isabout $34 billion, with about $22.2 billion coming from the federal government and $11.8 billion from state and local governments.  \n Household spending. Parents currently spend about $42 billion on early care and education.  \n Household income loss. Parents forgo roughly $30–35 billion in income because the current high cost of ECE leads many parents to leave the paid labor force, or reduce their paid work hours, to care for their children.  \n Lost tax revenues. Forgone wages translate into a loss of tax revenue of about $4.2 billion each year.  \nEconomic benefits of a transformed system  \n Comparable pay for ECE teachers. In a high-quality system that invests in ECE teachers and pays them like their K–8 peers, these teachers will see their wages rise by $80.3 billion each year. In essence, this number can be seen as a measure of how much today’s ECE system underpays teachers and keeps prices inefficiently lo","cbCaimCmGpTm0DNp","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaimCmGpTm0DNp","pdf",257246,12,"English","# Main findings\n## Economic costs of the current ECE system\n## Economic benefits of a transformed system\n## Public spending on today’s ECE system","[{\"question\":\"What are the main economic costs of the current ECE system?\",\"answer\":\"The report identifies government spending, household spending, household income loss due to reduced paid work, and lost tax revenues.\"},{\"question\":\"How much do parents and governments spend on early care and education?\",\"answer\":\"Public spending is about $34 billion, while parents spend about $42 billion on early care and education.\"},{\"question\":\"What fiscal and economic benefits does the report project from transforming the ECE system?\",\"answer\":\"The report estimates that properly funding and compensating ECE teachers would increase teacher wages substantially, raise tax revenues, and deliver fiscal benefits that outweigh costs over the long run.\"}]","Who’s Paying Now? - The Explicit and Implicit Costs of the Current Early Care and Education System | PDF",1792047712]