During the COVID-19 pandemic, food insecurity skyrocketed among U.S. households. In particular, child care workers may have been severely affected, with 33% reporting food insecurity (RAPID-EC, 2021). Using nationally representative data from December 2020, roughly one year into the COVID-19 pandemic, we conducted a detailed examination of food insecurity and practices among U.S. child care workers. We found that child care workers experienced triple the rates of food insecurity compared to the general population (33.3% versus 10.2%), with 20% reporting high/very high food insecurity. To cope with food insecurity, child care workers were more likely to use individual-level strategies (e.g., stretching food budgets) than participating in local or federal programs. After accounting for demographic characteristics, higher-income households had lower odds of experiencing food insecurity, suggesting that increasing wages for child care workers, especially during periods of economic turmoil, could prevent food insecurity among this vital workforce.

The authors have declared no competing interest.

The author(s) received no specific funding for this work.

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The data is US Census data and is publicly available.