Project Lead/PI: Noah Seixas
Sponsor: NIOSH
Project Team: Lead Investigator: Seixas; Additional team members: Jennifer Otten, Emilee Quinn, Bert Stover, Allison Crollard, Joycelyn Chui (student)
Project Period: Sept 2019-Aug 2021
Project Status: Active
Project Contact: Primary Investigator: Noah Seixas, PhD, Professor Emeritus, nseixas@uw.edu
Project coordinator: Emilee Quinn, MPH, Research Scientist, equinn1@uw.edu
Description: The early care and education (ECE) workforce, including teachers and staff employed at programs caring for children under the age of six, plays a critical role in the state’s economy and the lives of young children and their families. Despite this, the estimated 2.2 million U.S. workers employed in ECE represent a highly vulnerable working population. ECE workers are among the lowest paid of all occupations, have few job-related benefits, and are disproportionately young women. In addition, ECE workers are potentially exposed to multiple health risks on the job including infectious disease, musculoskeletal strain, and high levels of stress. During the COVID-19 pandemic, ECE programs were classified as “essential” and allowed to remain open. Some closed while others remained open, struggling to address challenges related to reduced or dramatically changed child enrollment, restrictions on teacher-child ratios, increased costs related to preventive measures, and increased or unknown risks related to transmission of the coronavirus. Using a statewide survey of center-based ECE workers conducted in early 2021, and observations of workers conducted at a small sample of centers, we will describe the working conditions and health status among ECE workers and explore relationships between exposures, sociodemographic characteristics, and health outcomes. We will collect information about working conditions and health status of ECE workers in general and as impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and response.