This was originally posted on the DCHS Cultivating Connections Blog.
Nearly 1,000 child care workers across King County received a pay increase in 2025 thanks to the Best Starts for Kids Child Care Worker Wage Boost Pilot. Through 2027, the pilot will provide quarterly wage boosts for an annual salary increase of $8,320 for full-time workers and $4,160 for part-time workers. The boost’s impact will be studied and reported on over the course of the pilot. Applications to participate opened in February.
After a randomized digital lottery, 887 child care workers and 133 facilities were invited to participate in the pilot. The different participants are from all corners of King County and include workers from child care centers, family home providers, and school age care.
The total number of participating child care workers will not be final until later in 2025 since facilities are allowed time to fill vacancies in their positions that could increase the total.
Applicants were invited to participate in a survey to help Best Starts measure and understand the ways workers feel about their jobs, financial stress, and overall well-being. About 1,100 workers responded.
What the survey shows about King County’s child care workforce
Preliminary findings show most child care workers love their jobs, and feel supported in their work, but that many receive low wages and experience financial stress. The survey also reaffirmed how this is an issue that largely impacts women and especially women of color, with 91% of those surveyed identifying as women and 64% identified as Black, Indigenous, and/or people of color.
Here’s what else the survey showed:
Child care workers are dedicated to their jobs.
- Workers who responded reported having worked in the child care field for an average of 12 years.
- 89% of respondents had high levels of overall job satisfaction, overwhelmingly reporting satisfaction with their leadership, co-workers, support and respect for the profession.
Child care workers navigate stress due to low wages
- 41% of respondents said in the past three months they worked while sick or injured because they could not take time off. Of these respondents, 65% worked because there was no one available to cover their shift and 30% worked because they had no or insufficient paid sick leave.
- Of the 27% of respondents who said they looked for or considered a different job in the past three months, 65% said it was because they wanted better wages and 51% said it was because they wanted better benefits.
- 30% of respondents reported high levels of stress and 21% had elevated symptoms of depression.
- 44% of respondents said they have trouble affording what they need each month and 19% said they were unable to afford the food for themselves or their families.
Child care workers contribute a profound service to our children, families and communities. Through the Best Starts Child Care Worker Wage Boost pilot, King County hopes to show what’s possible when our child care workforce is supported through public investment.
