Childcare employment—before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic

The employment rate in the United States fell dramatically in many industries during the COVID-19 pandemic—the childcare industry, in particular, was hit hard. In this article, we use data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Business Response Surveys and other BLS sources to examine employment, wages, telework, benefits, and the inner workings of the critical child daycare services industry before and during the pandemic and most importantly how the industry has managed since. Although the childcare industry’s wages are low and it has high labor turnover, our findings show that it is critical in supporting workers across all industries. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, childcare centers were subject to mandated closures; increased safety requirements, including limits on capacity; and other disruptions.1 These disruptions in the childcare services industry rippled across the U.S. economy because workers were unable to access reliable childcare for their families. The childcare industry fulfills multiple roles in the labor market.