Early Childhood Education in Milwaukee
We’re making strides, but there’s still work to do.
Access, Cost & Quality
Currently, access to quality Early Childhood Education is limited and not all families are able to afford the high price tag. Take a look at some of the data to see how Milwaukee measures up. (En Español)
The ECE Workforce Crisis
High staff turnover paired with low rates of new educators entering the industry have created challenges for many of Milwaukee’s providers. Discover why our centers are struggling. (En Español)
Regulated family providers are facing similar struggles. Check out how in-home providers in SE Wisconsin stack up. (En Español)
Access to ECE
The number of available slots in licensed child care centers in Milwaukee is limited. As it stands, almost 5,000 children under the age of 6 may not have access to child care.
Cost of Care
Child care in Milwaukee is expensive. National guidelines suggest that only 7% of your income should be spent on care. But in Milwaukee, infant child care costs $16,236 per year, meaning people are spending 26% of their income!
Quality of Care
Child care in Wisconsin is rated from 1 at the low end to 5 at the high. Most providers in the state are rated at 2 or 3 stars. In Milwaukee, only 4% of programs are rated at 5 stars, compared to 12% statewide.
Mental Health: Beyond Translation
During COVID, Milwaukee Succeeds and the ECE Coalition developed a series of trainings to help providers and the children in their care cope with trauma and stress. While Spanish translations were available, it quickly became clear that more could be done to better serve this population. The result was new culturally responsive trainings that centered Milwaukee’s Spanish-speaking providers.
Want to Learn More?
For a detailed picture of the Early Childhood Education landscape in Milwaukee, check out this report, commissioned by the Greater Milwaukee Foundation:
View our Early Childhood Education data dashboard: