Childcare Worker Health
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research that hits home
Childcare workers are vulnerable to occupational health risks, due to the nature of their work. They do a lot of stooping, bending, kneeling, twisting, and sitting in pint-sized furniture. But did you know that childcare providers also show high rates of depression, especially at lower income levels? A 2017 study by Linnan et al, noted that childcare providers demonstrated less physical activity than current national recommendations and tended to consume lower levels of fruits and vegetables than recommended too. This is not particularly astonishing, as many people in the United States fail to meet these recommendations. Childcare providers also reported poor sleep. Stressors included interactions with parents and worrying about children (which frequently interrupted sleep). Among the 674 women included in this study 36.1% exhibited characteristics of clinical depression, according to the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D).
Many concerning health conditions—poor diet, overweight and obesity, smoking, as well as depressive symptoms—were higher in lower paid childcare providers. Researchers theorized that those making less than 20,000 per year were more likely to experience depression and anxiety related to financial and job insecurity. What’s more, researchers felt that these providers might be more likely to “self-medicate”—especially in the absence of health insurance—with unhealthy behaviors to manage mental health issues. Other possibilities, in my mind, include relying upon cheaper, more highly processed foods and sweetened drinks for energy and sustenance, due to constraints on finances.
The study is yet another piece in the jigsaw puzzle of childcare, and is a stark reminder of how poorly society treats the women who treat its children so well. Interventions that address childcare provider health in affordable ways are desperately needed, as is advocacy and reform on a national level to increase wages for childcare providers without increasing the already heavy financial burden of childcare on working families.
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