A group of child care advocates, researchers, and providers with the Mississippi Forum for the Future is seeking the input of child care teachers regarding their wages using a survey. The goal of the Mississippi Child Care Teacher Wages Survey is to better understand the wages and other supports needed to 1) improve job satisfaction and recruitment of child care teachers, 2) encourage child care teachers to stay in the child care field, and 3) encourage child care teachers to further their training and education. This information will help advocates discuss the needs of child care teachers and ask for funding.
It is known that higher wages are needed to keep teachers in their jobs, but it is also understood that additional wages cannot come from parent tuition; child care center/family home budgets; or existing federal funding sources, such as the Child Care Development Fund. Other states have used state lottery dollars or other special funds, local industries, and community foundations to supplement child care teacher wages.
If you are a child care teacher, please complete the survey using this LINK. Please understand that completing this survey will not guarantee a pay raise. This is the first step in getting information to advocate for higher child care wages. Please only take the survey one time. Once the survey is started, it can be returned to anytime if it is accessed on the same device. However, if more than one person is using the same device, the first user will need to complete and submit their survey before the second person begins. The closing date for all responses is August 9, 2023.
If you are a child care director/owner, please forward this email to your teachers and/or print the attached QR code, which links to the survey, and post it in your center. Please encourage your teachers to take the survey and assist them in completing the survey. The closing date for all responses is August 9, 2023.
The Mississippi State University Institutional Review Board has reviewed this study (#IRB-23-248) and deemed it exempt. If you have any questions, please call the survey principal investigator, Dr. Heather Hanna at (662) 325-7961. This survey is not funded by or affiliated with the Mississippi Department of Human Services.
Thank you,
Wages Working Group
Mississippi Forum for the Future