The Early Childhood Force Driving Young Children’s Brain Development
Early childhood is a period of extraordinary opportunity and vulnerability, when the brain develops more rapidly than at any other time and lays the foundation for lifelong learning, behavior, and health. This development is driven by the quality of relationships children have with parents and other caregivers through everyday experiences. In that sense, adults who work with children are not just providing care, but actively constructing the developing brain. That is why supporting a highly-trained and stable early childhood workforce is best understood as an investment in young children’s healthy development.
Sadly, despite the critical role played by the early childhood workforce, Illinois, like many other states, faces persistent challenges in attracting and retaining talent. Low wages and scant benefits result in chronic shortages and high turnover rates, which in turn undermine the consistency and quality of interactions that young children need to develop. It is therefore urgent that we align policy and investment with what the science of early brain development tells us.
In the earliest years of life, the brain develops at a remarkable pace, with 90% of brain development occurring before age 5 and neural connections forming more rapidly than at any other time. This development is not automatic; rather, it is driven by children’s experiences, especially the quality of relationships they have with the adults around them that can either support and facilitate a child’s healthy development or stifle it. For example, for very young children, development occurs through “serve-and-return” interactions – the response from caretakers to a young child’s needs, emotions, or behaviors. These interactions quite literally build brain circuitry, shaping children’s language, social-emotional skills, and cognitive capacity. At the same time, early development is highly sensitive to adversity. Prolonged, unbuffered stress—often referred to as “toxic stress”—can disrupt developing brain architecture and have lasting consequences.ⁱ
As many young children spend substantial time in early childhood care and education settings, the quality of care provided plays a critical role in their cognitive growth, language acquisition, and development of social-emotional skills. In these settings, the relationships, interactions, and environments that young children need to thrive rely heavily on the skill and preparation of the adults providing care. High-quality, brain-building interactions require more than good intentions—they call for deep understanding of child development, the knowledge base to create enriching activities and experiences for young children, along with the ability to respond to children’s cues with consistency and intention. Importantly, without adequate training and support, these interactions and experiences can be inconsistent or ineffectual for young children. In this way, workforce preparation directly shapes the extent to which early educators can foster growth across developmental domains and help set young children on a trajectory for kindergarten and later academic success.
In order to effectively support children, promoting growth and kindergarten readiness, the early childhood workforce also needs to be stable. Young children rely on consistent relationships to form secure attachments and feel safe. High turnover—often driven by low pay, burnout, and challenging working conditions—disrupts these critical connections. High staff turnover disrupts the stable, responsive relationships young children need, undermining attachment, increasing stress, and negatively affecting their social-emotional and cognitive development.ⁱⁱ This makes workforce conditions not just an employment issue, but a child development issue. When early childhood educators are well-supported in their work - through stronger compensation as well as ongoing professional development, reflective supervision, and supports that help them manage stress and effectively support children with complex needs, children benefit from the stability and responsiveness those strategies generate.
When early childhood programs deliver high-quality programming, children are better equipped to enter a formal school setting. Unfortunately, gaps in kindergarten readiness continue to persist, with only 21% of children in poverty found to have the foundational skills they need to succeed upon entering kindergarten, compared to the statewide average of 31%.¹ According to the Harvard Center on the Developing Child, high-quality early relationships can buffer the effects of poverty and adversity, helping to close developmental gaps before they widen over time. In this way, investing in the early childhood workforce is not only about improving individual outcomes, but also about creating more equitable trajectories for every child to succeed.
Yet, Illinois faces persistent workforce challenges that indirectly undermine the conditions that best support child development. Early childhood educators are paid significantly less than their K–12 counterparts, with pre-K teachers across settings earning roughly $41,500 annually compared to $68,100 for kindergarten teachers², and non-school based preschool and childcare workers earning still less, $39,000 on average for teachers and as little as $23,000 for assistant teachers.
While recent initiatives like Smart Start Workforce Grants are beginning to address compensation, low wages remain a primary driver of high turnover and staffing shortages across the state. Turnover rates³ have risen sharply in recent years, reaching over 40% for teachers and nearly 70% for assistant teachers.⁴ This instability disrupts the consistent relationships children depend on and creates a cycle that ultimately diminishes program quality.
The stakes around a strong early childhood workforce extend far beyond the early years, shaping both immediate and lifelong outcomes for children. Addressing these challenges requires a comprehensive approach that not only raises compensation, but also strengthens professional supports—such as coaching, career pathways, and improved working conditions—to stabilize the workforce and enable educators to deliver the high-quality experiences that are foundational to healthy child development.
Kate Buchanan is the Senior Policy Advisor, Early Childhood for Advance Illinois.
ⁱ Harvard Center on the Developing Child
ⁱⁱHarvard Center on the Developing Child
¹ ISBE, Illinois Report Card, 2024-2025.
² Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2024. https://www.bls.gov/oes/tables.htm
³ Turnover rates were calculated by comparing the number of staff who left in the past two years to the number of employees currently employed.
⁴ Illinois Department of Human Services, Illinois Salary & Staffing Survey of Licensed Child Care Facilities: FY2023, https://www.dhs.state.il.us/page.aspx?item=163476