A Day in the Mental Health Life of an Early Childhood Educator| Exploring the impact of stress, depression, and anxiety on early childhood educators and what we can do about it.  

Written by: Maisah Williams-Foote 

It is 5:00 AM and the alarm goes off. The day begins for an early childhood educator. But at the moment when the lights will not turn on because the power company disconnected the service for non-payment, it is clear this is not going to be an easy day. With three children to care for and drop off at school, our teacher has a lot on her plate.  

By the time she finally makes it to work two hours later, she is already exhausted and frazzled. And that is just the beginning. The challenges of caring for a group of young children quickly arise - from potty training woes to toy-sharing disagreements, our teacher is running on fumes. She is barely able to stuff a few bites of her lunch before moving on to the next task, naptime. But the biggest challenge comes at the end of the day, when she is hit with a $30 late fee for picking up her oldest child 10 minutes late from afterschool (because a mom was late picking up a child in her care), and now realizes she will not have money for the family’s dinner or the bus ride home.  

With tears rolling down her face, she wonders whom she can turn to for help. It is a difficult and all-too-common situation for many early childhood educators, who face immense pressure and stress daily. In this blog post, we will explore the impact of stress and pressure on the mental health of early childhood teachers including burnout, anxiety, and depression. We will address how mental health challenges in early childhood is a women and equity issue as well as examine strategies to support the mental and emotional well-being of early childhood educators.  

Why does Mental Health Matter?  

The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on the mental health of early childhood educators causing stress and anxiety, uncertainty of the future, fear of business and wages loss, and the massive threats of closing child care centers due to low-enrollment and financial instability highlighted in the National Education of Young Children (NAEYC) Pandemic Surveys. High instances of stress were prevalent before COVID-19 according to the Physical, Mental, and Financial Stress Impacts of COVID-19 on Early Childhood Educators study. The study found a third (32.8%) of early childhood educators reported feeling moderate personal stress and 4% had severe stress. 

As alarming as this data is, stress and anxiety are not only a reality for early childhood educators during an international crisis, but they are common workplace hazards. While other professionals with high-stress levels may have the financial and organizational support to seek professional mental health services including talk therapy and, in some cases, psychiatric care and medication, the prevailing challenge of low wages and limited health care insurance for most early childhood educators, makes these services out of reach.  

The impact of stress and anxiety can be insurmountable. Imagine choosing between buying groceries for your family and medication, now add to the equation paying for therapy sessions at $100 a pop. It is an easy decision. The groceries win!  

This is a Women’s Health Issue  

According to the Center for American Progress, women represent 97% of the workforce. Women permeate every level of the early childhood field, from serving as family child care providers in their homes to preschool teachers in public school systems to lead Head Start teachers in migrant communities. We provide education, direct care, and services, manage the programs, own the centers, sit on the boards, and run the parent groups. Women are early childhood. May I say, We Built this Joint!  

As empowering as it feels to say, I understand how this negatively impacts many women’s mental health. Research suggests that women are more likely than men to experience depression and anxiety. 

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), globally, depression is twice as common in women as in men. Similarly, anxiety disorders are also more prevalent among women than men. This translates to the people caring for our children, experiencing stress, anxiety, and depression more than any other subgroup. Considering this epidemic was prevalent before COVID-19, the pandemic multiplied the impact.  

In my personal experience with depression and anxiety from the age of 13, I understand the effect it has on a woman’s ability to focus, control emotions and impulses, remain calm in crisis, sustain brain fog resulting in excessive forgetfulness, exhaustion beyond what sleep can cure, and the struggle to simply get out of bed.  

In July 2022 after contracting COVID-19 within 2 days of the virus symptoms presenting themselves, the normal anxiety and depression that I am unfortunately used to managing exacerbated into a bout of major depressive disorder. I have only recently found relief. I had the financial means and medical resources to seek help, but even knowing as much as I do about this disease, I was still afraid and unsure how I could manage my symptoms and still take care of my family and function professionally.  

Thankfully, I was not responsible for 4 infants and toddlers in an Early Head Start room, or 17 3-year-olds in a for-profit child care center. But this is not the case with many women challenged with mild anxiety and depression or a major depressive disorder. Studies show that there is a  long-term impact of COVID-19 on mental health and the prevalence among essential workers that had no choice but to continue working in-person while millions of Americans, including me at the time a Head Start Contract Project Manager, were afforded the opportunity to work from home.  

This is an Equity Issue  

According to the Center for the Study of Child Care Employment at the University of California, Berkeley, in 2018, women of color comprise about 40 percent of the early childhood workforce, and of those working with infants and/or toddlers. So, may I say again, We Built This Joint as a proud Black woman early childhood educator!  

COVID-19 was our much too late wake-up call to the equity challenges faced by early childhood educators across this country and territories in all geographical and demographic areas: urban, rural, migrant, and American Indian native lands, low and high socio-economic status, corporate or front-line workers. It did not matter if you had a toddler in child care and worked at McDonald’s or had an infant in a private, high-priced early childhood setting, the pandemic showed the world that early childhood educators are underpaid, under-resourced, and overly stressed essential workers.  

I wonder if this field were staffed with mostly men and White, would we have pay equity issues or need to fight for a livable wage? Maybe, but I doubt it.  

Early childhood educators are critical to children's learning and development and unfortunately are often among the lowest-paid workers in the United States. NAEYC reported the average annual salary for a lead teacher in a child care center in the U.S (United States) was $28,953 in 2019, which is below the federal poverty line for a family of four  

Inequitable wages contribute to high rates of turnover in the early childhood workforce, which negatively impacts continuity of care, strong adult-child relationships, and children’s development. Furthermore, low wages and lack of benefits make mental health services out of reach for many.  

Remember how we started; the early childhood educator's power was cut off due to non-payment of her bill and the data that shows 40% of the women of color are infant/toddler educators. Couple this with a baby suffering from colic or separation anxiety and you have a formula for inappropriate adult behavior. There is no excuse ever for taking out our adult frustrations on children in our care, however, as a nation we must address the emotional and mental strain educators experience while taking care of our children while living in poverty.  

There is HOPE!  

A few years ago, while visiting one of my Head Start programs, the director informed me that they recently started a mental health support group for their teachers, and this was before mental health and equity were hot topics. A few of her Early Head Start teachers approached her with an idea to address their mental and emotional health needs and sought leadership support. The leadership team initially funded the project with $500 dollars for supplies, snacks, small gifts, and other items. The program provided mental health breaks, and resources on relieving stress, and taught professional development on the importance of self-care and wellness. The program sponsored free massage days and coffee breaks.  

Approaching six years later, the mental health teacher support program is still operating, they have created a teacher wellness room, and the organization’s CEO/President supported annual new fund allocation. Last year, the fund development team submitted a proposal and received a $30,000 grant to expand their mental health initiative and compensate the teachers with the original idea to run it. That’s Power to the Profession!  

What did it take for this early childhood non-profit organization to start this life-changing program? A positive leadership response to the needs of their staff and a small amount of start-up funding.  

Imagine if every early childhood educator experienced this type of response when they informed their leadership team that they need mental health and emotional support.  

As a 25-year ECE professional, I’ve never shared with my manager my challenges with depression and anxiety even when it was affecting my work. As I type these words, I know my CEO and team members will now know. But I also know that my CEO, VP, Manager, and team members will support and encourage me when needed. I feel safe and seen. All early childhood educators do not have this gift of belonging, safety, and respect and are often told to leave their problems at the door when they enter their workplaces. Have you tried to leave your stress, worry, anxiety, heartbreak, confusion, or fears at the door? If it worked for you, please write a book. You would be a millionaire and I need a loan!  

What can we do?  

1. Provide opportunities for wellness and mental health professional development: I wish I knew everything I know now from working with my primary care doctor, therapist, and psychiatrist on managing my depression and anxiety. The importance of self-care, sleep, good nutrition, and setting boundaries. That’s another blog.  
2. Encourage and mandate self-care: Encouraging staff to take care of their own mental health can help reduce burnout, compassion fatigue, and staff turnover in the organization. But, when we cannot encourage it, enforce it. Establish mandatory duty-free lunches and breaks, plan mandatory annual staff wellness retreats (not training-only focused), and enforce yearly vacations. You don’t have to go home but you have to get out of here! – In my ancestors’ voice.  
3. Foster positive relationships: Positive work environments and relationships foster positive mental health for all professionals but especially women-led professions.  
4. Provide access to mental health resources: Budget for mental health resources, such as counseling or therapy services, or for smaller budgets host a 30-minute team video discussion on self-care and stress reduction topics. Here’s one from Nadine Burke Harris on how childhood trauma affects health.  
5. Address workplace stressors: Addressing workplace stressors, such as workload, family communication issues, and federal and state regulation fatigue, can help reduce stress and enhance career fulfillment. Give your educators permission to tap out. Let them know that help is always a call or text away.  
6. Educate yourself: I ceased sharing my mental health condition even with close friends and family not because I did not want or need the listening ears or support but because of the ill-informed opinions and judgments I received when I did share, which is very prevalent in my Black and Christian community. Mental health, especially depression medication, tends to be taboo.  

To provide support we must be informed. If we do not understand mental health or equity-related issues there are plenty of national organizations that have resources including my own organization, The Council for Professional Recognition: Children’s Equity Project and Council for Professional Recognition Partner to Focus on Equity  

Hopefully, this blog post resonates with you. 

• You as an early childhood educator: I hope you feel seen, heard, and believed. 
• You as an early childhood leader: I hope you are encouraged to evaluate your engagement, policies, and procedures on these topics.  
• You as an advocate: I hope you are emboldened to write more letters, call more state senators, and host more Capital Hill Days because we need you.  
• You as a parent or caregiver: I hope you know that your child will receive quality, responsive, and continual care when you advocate for the mental and emotional health of your child’s teachers, support staff, and managers. Programs listen to their customers or go out of business. Use your power!  
• You as an early childhood thought leader and system builder: When was the last time you heard a quiet construction site? Builders make noise! Use your valued and influential voice. Inside voices are for our children in the library.  

Keep building this joint!  

-From a fellow Joint Builder!