We took a look at the newly released 2024 Early Childhood Workforce Index to see how Arkansas stacks up—and where we might go from here.
The early childhood workforce in Arkansas shapes the critical first years of development for thousands of young children. Educators and staff in this group nurture emotional growth, introduce foundational language and math skills, and support families in meaningful ways. But while their impact is substantial, their compensation, working conditions, and state-level support often fall short.
The Early Childhood Workforce Index 2024 from the Center for the Study of Child Care Employment (CSCCE) offers a detailed look at how Arkansas is doing—and where there’s room to grow. Using data from the 2022 American Community Survey (ACS), the most recent year for which detailed state-level data is available, the newly released Workforce Index paints a broader picture of the workforce than previous editions.
Wages Are Low—and Falling
As of 2022, early childhood workers in Arkansas earned a median hourly wage of $11.04. Adjusted for inflation, that represents a 2.9% decrease from 2019. For context, the living wage for a single adult in Arkansas in 2022 was $14.34/hour, meaning many in the early childhood workforce face a 23% gap between their earnings and what’s needed to meet basic needs. This suggests that many early childhood workers likely rely on public assistance—an indirect cost to the state. By contrast, elementary and middle school teachers earn a median of $27.44/hour—more than double what early educators typically make.
It’s important to note that educators in Arkansas Better Chance (ABC) and Head Start programs—both of which receive public funding—often have better compensation and support than those in private child care settings.
- ABC lead teachers are required to have a bachelor’s degree and are often paid on a public-school certified salary schedule if they work in programs administered by a public school district.
- Head Start classroom teachers in Arkansas earn an average of $14.36/hour, based on an annual salary of $29,877 reported by the Urban Institute. This is above the state’s median for early childhood workers, but when we compare Head Start teachers who have at least a bachelor’s degree ($15.03/hour) to similarly degreed K-8 teachers, we still see a sizeable gap.
Still, even within ABC and Head Start, wages and supports can vary depending on where the program is located and how it’s administered. And importantly, these publicly funded programs only serve a portion of children in the state. The result is a fragmented workforce: some early childhood workers have access to higher wages, stronger benefits, and professional development opportunities—while many others do not.
Where State Policy Stands
The Early Childhood Workforce Index tracks how states are supporting the early childhood workforce across four key areas. Based on their indicators, here’s how Arkansas stacks up:
- Qualifications & Scholarships: Although a bachelor’s degree is required for ABC lead teachers, it is not required across all licensed ECCE settings. The state offers scholarships for those pursuing a CDA, associate, or bachelor’s degree through the Teacher Education and Compensation Helps (TEACH) Early Childhood ® Scholarship Program, a national program licensed under the Arkansas Early Childhood Association (AECA). While a degree alone may not indicate quality, increasing access to credentials can open doors to higher compensation. Importantly, TEACH tracks who receives these scholarships in Arkansas, which helps build a clearer picture of workforce development in our state.
- Working Conditions: Arkansas includes some supports in its Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS), such as paid professional development time and benefit guidelines. However, there are no QRIS requirements for paid planning or prep time, which may leave gaps for family home child care providers. As a result, working conditions likely vary substantially across settings.
- Compensation & Financial Relief: Although ABC teachers are generally better compensated when included in public school certified salary schedules, Arkansas does not guarantee salary parity for all publicly funded pre-K teachers. Some guidance on wages exists, but there is no dedicated public funding to ensure competitive compensation. The Step Up to WAGE$ program, initiated in 2022, provided semi-annual, education-based wage supplements to eligible child care professionals working directly with children from birth to age five. However, this program was funded through one-time COVID relief money and is set to conclude by July 31, 2025, leaving a gap in ongoing financial support for early childhood educators.
- Workforce Data: Arkansas requires licensed programs to participate in a professional registry and collects self-report data on early childhood worker wages, benefits, and demographics. That said, this data is not yet publicly available, which limits its usefulness for policy planning and accountability.
Looking Ahead
Arkansas has laid some important groundwork—offering scholarships, collecting some workforce data, and supporting professional development opportunities for the early childhood workforce. With some exceptions, the broader early childhood workforce still lacks the compensation, stability, and recognition it needs to thrive.
If Arkansas wants to strengthen its early childhood system, ensuring fair pay, professional support, and consistency across settings should be at the top of the list. Early childhood workers are essential to not only children’s development and family well-being, but also to the state’s economic success. It’s time our policies reflected that.
We’d love to hear how these trends are playing out in your region—reach out if you have questions or local insight to share.
About the Data
This year’s Early Childhood Workforce Index uses data from the 2022 American Community Survey (ACS)—a shift from previous editions that relied on the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS). The ACS allows for a more inclusive estimate of the early childhood education (ECE) workforce by capturing workers in a variety of roles and settings, including:
- Child care workers in home- and center-based programs
- Family child care providers (self-employed)
- Preschool teachers
- Nannies
- Teaching assistants
- Directors and administrators
This broader lens makes it possible to estimate wages across the full workforce—not just center-based employees. The ACS also allows for state-level analysis, which OEWS does not support as effectively. For comparison, the national OEWS estimates from 2023 (which exclude self-employed providers) report median wages of:
- $14.60/hour for child care workers
- $17.85/hour for preschool teachers
- $26.10/hour for center directors
Head Start teacher wages reported by the Urban Institute reflect an annual salary of $29,877 in Arkansas for the 2021-2022 year, which we converted to $14.36/hour using a full-time, year-round schedule (40 hours/week for 52 weeks). This method aligns with the approach used by the Workforce Index for consistency in comparison.
We encourage interested readers to read the appendices for the Early Childhood Workforce Index 2024 and the “Head Start and Early Head Start Teacher Salaries” Urban Institute Research Brief for more information about the data and methodological choices.