2024 National Survey of Early Care and Education (NSECE) Longitudinal Follow-ups

To expand on the 2024 NSECE data regarding the use of ECE, the NSECE Follow-up is conducting two nationally representative surveys. These surveys target (1) households and (2) center-based provider workforce to gather more detailed information. The Household Survey is being conducted with households participating in the 2024 NSECE and either a. reporting a paid individual ECE arrangement in the 2024 NSECE, and/or b. having at least one resident child under age 13 and who reported incomes under the 300% Federal poverty level in the 2024 NSECE. These two populations are not mutually exclusive. Eligible respondents are identified by the information collected on 2024 NSECE. This survey documents the ECE search and selection experiences of households with low incomes. Key questionnaire topics include details on households' awareness of and experience with publicly-funded ECE programs, how households selected ECE arrangements for fall 2024, who provided paid individual care to the households' children in early 2024, whether households sought financial assistance for ECE, and the current status of individual care arrangements used in spring 2024. These data will help to answer such research questions as (1) Which arrangements from winter/spring 2024 are still in effect in fall 2024? (2) What ECE programs are families aware of in their local area, and how much do they know about program rules and the family's own eligibility? (3) What factors contribute to how a family undertakes search and selection for their children? (4) Which desired characteristics of providers are most challenging for parents to satisfy in their search activities? (5) What steps did families take to find affordable care? The Workforce (Classroom Staff) Survey sample is comprised of individuals who participated in the 2024 NSECE Workforce Survey (i.e., served as center-based classroom-assigned instructional staff in 2024). This survey documents the career trajectory of ECE classroom staff, identifying individuals who still work at the same center, individuals who moved to a different center but still work in ECE, individuals who do not currently work in ECE, and individuals who do not currently work. The questionnaire identifies patterns of retention and attrition among individuals in the center based ECE workforce. Key questionnaire topics include identifying job transitions, their current role for the individuals who are in the working force, career trajectories, and more information about their current job. The data will answer such questions as (1) What are the characteristics and experiences of educators who leave an ECE classroom role? (2) What reasons do workers report for leaving their classroom roles? What center, classroom, or worker characteristics are associated with workers leaving classroom roles? (3) What motivates educators to stay in their current centers and in ECE? (4) What community, center, professional or personal characteristics are related to advancement or improvements in compensation over that period? (5) Which educators have looked for other employment recently? (6) What do educators report about their job satisfaction?