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Project Overview

The Center for Women and Work (CWW), the Heldrich Center for Workforce Development (Heldrich), and National Institute for the Early Education Research (NIEER) have joined together to form the Rutgers Child Care Research Collaborative for the purpose of conducting research and facilitating community conversations that develop a broad and comprehensive understanding of New Jersey’s child care landscape. Our research aims to increase understanding about the needs and interests of parents in New Jersey, the supply and motivations of the child care workforce, and the capacity of the child care sector to meet demand for child care today and into to future within our diverse state. Funding for the Rutgers Child Care Research Collaborative is provided by the New Jersey Department of Children and Families.

The Collaborative research consist of two parts: a child care landscape study and a child care workforce evaluation with distinct aims.

Child Care Landscape Study

  • To determine statewide child care capacity, inclusive of licensed centers, license exempt centers and family child care homes.
  • To determine unmet demand for child care by type of care taking into account parental preferences, quality, subsidies, and affordability. Beyond the three years of the study, we will make outyear projections based on population projections.
  • To develop recommendations for state agency action to ensure a readily available supply of child care that meets the needs of New Jersey families and maintains average consumer costs at or below 2022 levels when measured as a percentage of median income.
  • To develop a replicable methodology for monitoring market supply and demand going forward.

Child Care Workforce Evaluation

  • To describe the composition of the New Jersey child care workforce, including demographic information, education level, compensation levels, and tenure.
  • To evaluate staff’s motivations for entering or remaining in the child care field.

​The Child Care Workforce Evaluation will seek to identify ways the State can reduce barriers to entry to the child care workforce and improve retention of qualified, skilled workers. The child care workforce study also aims to offer a set of policy recommendations for the State of New Jersey to consider to improve the supply, preparedness, quality, and working conditions of New Jersey child care workers. 

 

Research Team

CWW:

 

Heldrich:
 
NIEER: