Low pay. Fewer leadership roles. Black and Latina child-care workers deal with racial barriers

Yenifer Galicia, who has worked at From the Heart Preschool in Los Angeles for three years, watches over the children on Monday. “I remember feeling so less than, so demeaned and confused.” Women of color make up nearly two-thirds of the early childhood workforce in California, yet they routinely earn lower wages and hold lower positions than their white peers — even when they have more education, according to a new report from the Center for the Study of Child Care Employment at UC Berkeley. Black directors earn $3,600 less and Latina directors earn $7,700 less than Asian or white center directors While Black educators make up 8% of the total early child-care workforce, they are 13% of in-home child-care providers, who are the most likely to report economic worries. “People often assume that more education leads to higher wages or job advancements, but our data showed that wasn’t the case,” said Yoonjeon Kim, a lead research analyst at the UC Berkeley center. It’s just out of reach.” Keisha Nzewi, co-founder of Black Californians United for ECE, a nonprofit that works for Black children, families and workers, said the low wages in child care are a remnant of slavery.