Real median hourly wage, child care workers versus other workers, by demographic (2014 dollars)
| Demographic | Child care workers | All other workers | Percent difference | Child care hourly wage penaltya |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | $10.31 | $17.00 | -39.3% | 23.0%*** |
| Gender | ||||
| Men | $10.16 | $18.46 | -44.9% | 32.0%*** |
| Women | $10.31 | $15.40 | -33.0% | 23.1%*** |
| Nativity | ||||
| U.S. born | $10.31 | $17.35 | -40.6% | 23.8%*** |
| Naturalized U.S. citizen | $11.86 | $17.86 | -33.6% | 17.1%*** |
| Non-naturalized immigrant | $10.16 | $12.37 | -17.9% | 18.5%*** |
| Race/ethnicityb | ||||
| White | $10.31 | $18.60 | -44.6% | 25.9%*** |
| Black | $10.31 | $14.21 | -27.4% | 16.8%*** |
| Hispanic | $10.16 | $12.96 | -21.6% | 17.3%*** |
| Asian | $11.18 | $20.00 | -44.1% | 26.4%*** |
| Other | $10.31 | $15.00 | -31.3% | 25.1%*** |
| Education | ||||
| Less than high school | $8.89 | $10.31 | -13.8% | 12.2%*** |
| High school | $10.08 | $14.00 | -28.0% | 15.5%*** |
| Some college | $10.16 | $15.04 | -32.4% | 20.0%*** |
| Bachelor’s degree | $13.26 | $24.04 | -44.8% | 39.8%*** |
| Advanced degree | $15.64 | $31.43 | -50.2% | 48.9%*** |
| Age | ||||
| 18–22 | $9.00 | $9.28 | -3.0% | 0.5% |
| 23–49 | $11.00 | $17.28 | -36.3% | 27.3%*** |
| 50+ | $11.31 | $19.55 | -42.1% | 29.5%*** |
a. Percent difference between the hourly wages earned by a child care worker and those earned by a demographically similar worker in another occupation
b. Race/ethnicity categories are mutually exclusive (i.e., white non-Hispanic, black non-Hispanic, and Hispanic any race).
*** indicates significance at the .01 level; ** indicates significance at the .05 level; * indicates significance at the 0.1 level.
Note: OLS regressions control for gender, nativity, citizenship, race/ethnicity, educational attainment, age, marital status, urbanicity, region of the country, and year. Complete regression results available from the author upon request. To ensure sufficient sample sizes, this table draws from pooled 2012–2014 microdata.
Source: EPI analysis of Current Population Survey Outgoing Rotation Group microdata