UCLA Labor Center

Latina Futures has partnered with the UCLA Labor Center to advance a landmark study focused on addressing systemic issues that limit opportunities and economic outcomes for Latinas in the childcare sector. Led by Ana Luz Gonzalez-Vasquez, PhD, project director of the Prosperity, Opportunity, and Worker Equity Reimagined (POWER) in Workforce Development at the Labor Center, and Dario Valles, assistant professor in the Chicana/o and Latina/o Studies (CHLS) at California State University, Long Beach, this exploratory study, which aims to scale statewide, focuses on the critical labor provided by Latina childcare workers in Southern California. The project’s goal is to understand how the industry can be a pathway to opportunity for women consistently paid the lowest wages in of any racial/ethnic group, irrespective of industry. . Centering worker power and equity, this collaboration will identify opportunities for career pathways and wealth creation in the childcare sector and promote evidence-based policy interventions that can make these careers livable and respected.

Through a comprehensive industry analysis, this study will identify the demographic contours of childcare workers,  detail the inequalities facing these workers, and specify the actions necessary to  recognize and support childcare workers’ essential contributions to the economy. Data collection will draw on a series of focus groups with Latina caregivers, both licensed and license-exempt, that explore worker safety, wage theft, unionization, and working conditions. Additional focus groups with childcare unions, early education agencies, and workforce development centers will explore the opportunities and challenges facing these workers.  

This project emphasizes participatory and deep stakeholder engagement with essential workers who are too often invisible in policy debates about the nation’s economic future. The study’s findings, informed by the workers themselves, will be shared with critical policy audiences and integrated in evidence-based advocacy efforts that improve workplace conditions and economic outcomes for caregivers. Latina Futures’ goal is to advance worker-centered analysis that supports policies that improve the quality of life of essential workers, including defined career pathways, family-sustaining wages,  access to pensions, benefits, and safe working environments.