Blog Post
This blog was authored by Simon Marmura Brown, Strategic Director of Research and Knowledge Mobilisation, Pond-Deshpande Centre
The Workforce Behind the Workforce: How ECEs Power the Economy
How early childhood educators drive economic growth and community wellbeing.
Across Atlantic Canada, early childhood educators (ECEs) shape far more than our classrooms and our children, they shape the conditions for a thriving, resilient, and inclusive economy.
Every day, ECEs make it possible for parents to work, for businesses to function, and for communities to grow. Their impact is so deeply embedded in daily life that it can sometimes be easy to overlook, however, when examine their impacts one truth becomes unmistakable: for a more prosperous, inclusive, and equitable Atlantic Canada, ECEs are foundational.
At the Pond-Deshpande Centre (PDC), our commitment to equity, decent work, and economic growth means prosperity that is widely shared, community-rooted, and grounded in wellbeing. Early childhood education (ECE) isn’t adjacent to this vision; it is at its core. High-quality, accessible early childhood education allows parents to participate fully in the workforce, enables employers to operate with stability, and supports the long-term development of the next generation of community members, innovators, and leaders.
ECE as Economic Infrastructure
For decades, researchers have conducted rigorous analyses and studies to understand the impact of ECE on society. Much of the Canadian research focuses on the economic benefits of affordable childcare, which, while not the same as childhood education, is still helpful to understand the economic implications of dedicated professionals engaging with children.
Research from Quebec’s universal low-fee childcare program shows that when childcare becomes affordable and reliable, mothers’ labour force participation rises dramatically. Economists Pierre Fortin, Luc Godbout, and Suzie St-Cerny estimate that the policy brought more than 70,000 additional mothers into the workforce and raised Quebec’s GDP by 1.7%.
Critically, they conclude that the program paid for itself through increased tax revenue generated by higher employment.1
Similar work by Pierre Lefebvre and Philip Merrigan shows that universal childcare produces a substantial and sustained increase in maternal labour supply, reinforcing the finding that reliable childcare is a powerful tool for governments to boost employment and economic productivity.2
Newer studies continue to underscore the importance of accessible access to childcare. Recent economic research on expanded pre-K access in the United States finds that access to reliable, extended-day preschool can increase parents’ annual earnings by over 20%, nearly offsetting the public cost of the program.3 The message is clear: when families can depend on childcare, economies grow.
High-Quality ECE Drives Long-Term Prosperity
ECE supports today’s workforce, but its economic impact reaches far into the future. Decades of peer-reviewed research show that high-quality early learning programs improve children’s educational outcomes, increase lifetime earnings, and reduce social costs.
Nobel laureate James Heckman and his colleagues have demonstrated that high-quality preschool can generate a 7–10% annual return on investment, making it a very effective economic development strategy.4 Other reviews demonstrate that well-designed and implemented ECE programs improve the lives of children and their families et return two to four dollars to society for every dollar invested.5
These returns come from better school readiness, higher graduation rates, improved health, and increased long-term earnings—outcomes that echo across communities and generations.
ECEs Strengthen Communities From the Inside Out
None of these economic benefits happen without early childhood educators, the people who spend every day nurturing children’s social, emotional, and cognitive development. ECEs build trust with families, create stability for communities, and support the wellbeing of children during their most formative years.
Through the Atlantic Canada Early Childhood Education Lab, educators and directors told us repeatedly: when ECEs are supported, everything gets better: staff retention, child outcomes, family wellbeing, and centre stability. Strong, well-supported ECEs are the frontline workforce that makes inclusive prosperity possible.
PDC’s Commitment to Inclusive Prosperity
At PDC, part of our work focuses on building and supporting growth and opportunity that is shared, sustainable, and community-driven. Childcare is an essential pillar of that vision. The prosperity of Atlantic Canada depends thriving families, and children who have the strongest possible start in life. None of these are achievable without a strong early childhood education system, and without ECEs whose work is valued, compensated, and supported.
For our region to grow sustainably, equitably, and rapidly continued investment in ECE should be a core strategy. We must also recognize ECEs for what they are: core economic actors. They are not only educators—they are enablers of workforce participation, builders of long-term human capital, and catalysts of inclusive growth.
A Call to Action
If we want an economy that is vibrant, equitable, and future-focused, we must invest in the people who make participation possible. Early childhood educators are essential contributors to the prosperity of Atlantic Canada, today and for decades to come.
PDC remains committed to advancing solutions that strengthen the childcare sector, honour the expertise of educators, and create the conditions where inclusive prosperity can take root and grow.
In the end, prosperity begins in the places where children learn, grow, and feel cared for. And it begins with the people who make that possible—our early childhood educators.
Works Cited
1 Fortin, Pierre; Luc Godbout; and Suzie St-Cerny. “Impact of Quebec’s Universal Low-Fee Childcare Program on Female Labour Force Participation, Domestic Income, and Government Budgets.” Report, Université de Sherbrooke, (2012).
2 Lefebvre, Pierre, and Philip Merrigan. “Child‐Care Policy and the Labor Supply of Mothers with Young Children: A Natural Experiment from Canada.” Journal of Labor Economics 26, no. 3 (2008): 519–48. https://doi.org/10.1086/587760.
3 Humphries, John Eric, Christopher Neilson, Xiaoyang Ye, and Seth D. Zimmerman, “Parents’ Earnings and the Returns to Universal Pre-Kindergarten,” NBER Working Paper 33038 (2024), https://doi.org/10.3386/w33038.
4 Heckman JJ, Moon SH, Pinto R, Savelyev PA, Yavitz A. “The Rate of Return to the High/Scope Perry Preschool Program.” Journal of Public Economy. (2010). 94(1-2):114-128. doi: 10.1016/.
5 Karoly, Lynn A. “The Economic Returns to Early Childhood Education.” The Future of Children 26(2):37-56 (2016). DOI:10.1353/foc.2016.0011; Cannon JS, Kilburn MR, Karoly LA, Mattox T, Muchow AN, Buenaventura M. “Investing Early: Taking Stock of Outcomes and Economic Returns from Early Childhood Programs.” Rand Health Q. (2018) 30;7(4):6.
Follow Along
To learn more about the Atlantic Canada ECE Lab and explore the prototypes developed, visit our website: https://ponddeshpande.ca/ecelab/
