The Rutgers Child Care Research Collaborative is a three-center partnership between the Heldrich Center and two other prominent research centers at Rutgers University: the Center for Women and Work and the National Institute for Early Education Research. The project has two main aims: a landscape study focused on supply and demand issues related to childcare in New Jersey and an evaluation of the New Jersey childcare workforce. The Heldrich Center’s work seeks to identify ways New Jersey can reduce barriers to entry to the childcare workforce and improve the retention of qualified, skilled workers. The research team has released a focus group research brief and a research brief analyzing childcare job postings. The team is currently analyzing data collected from a survey of registered family childcare providers. Future work includes quantitative analyses of wage data, additional focus groups, and a survey of center-based staff. This project is funded by the New Jersey Department of Children and Families.
Products
- Voices of the Family Child Care Workforce in New Jersey: Findings from a Statewide Survey — Summary Brief (September 2026)
- Findings from a Statewide Survey of Lead and Assistant Teachers in New Jersey’s Licensed Child Care Centers: An Overview and Comparison of Perspectives — Summary Brief (September 2026)
- New Jersey’s Child Care Workforce: Training Topics of Interest for Child Care Providers — Summary Brief (September 2026)
- Findings from a Statewide Survey of Lead and Assistant Teachers in New Jersey’s Licensed Child Care Centers: An Overview and Comparison of Perspectives (September 2026)
- The Child Care Workforce in New Jersey: Findings from Focus Groups with Providers (October 2025)
- New Jersey’s Child Care Workforce: An Examination of Administrative Wage Data from 2015 to 2023 (October 2025)
- Voices of the Family Child Care Workforce in New Jersey: Findings from a Statewide Survey of Providers (September 2025)
- New Jersey’s Child Care Workforce: An Examination of Internet Job Postings from October 2023 (October 2024)
- Child Care Workforce Focus Group Summary Briefing (August 2024)