Improving Job Quality in the Childcare Sector: Assessing the JVS Job Quality Benchmarking Index

Job quality is a critical component of workforce development. While wages provide a clear measure of comparison in job listings, job-seekers are interested in benefits beyond pay. These characteristics can be hard to measure, making it difficult for employers and employees across an industry to compare organizations holistically. Jewish Vocational Service (JVS) Boston is the largest workforce development agency in greater New England. In 2017, in an effort to improve jobs for employees, they began the development of the Job Quality Benchmarking Index (JQBI). This is a tool that employers can use to measure the quality of their positions against their peers. It provides recommendations to employers for specific areas of improvement across 5 pillars: Wages, Benefits, Scheduling, Access to Career Ladders, and Supportive Environment.

In partnership with JVS Boston, a research team from Northeastern University set out to assess employer usage of the JQBI using a mixed-methods industry case study focused on childcare. Ensuring that parents can get to work much in the way that roads and bridges do, childcare is an essential piece of the nation’s economic infrastructure. Moreover, many of the challenges facing both employers and employees were exacerbated by the pandemic, highlighting the urgent need for improvements in job quality in this industry.

This research report assesses the use of the JQBI among JVS Boston employer partners in the childcare industry. It includes insights drawn from a series of qualitative interviews conducted with JVS Boston employer partners and their employees which focused on the changes each organization made to job quality and its performance across each of the five pillars. The research concludes with a reflection on the strengths of the JQBI as well as recommendations for its future expanded use across other industries.