Workload demands, unpaid hours, and concerns about time with children: a survey of Australian early childhood educators

Abstract Given the importance of quality early childhood education and care (ECEC) and growing demand for ECEC, the widely reported, but less frequently researched workforce issues across international ECEC services are a substantial social, political, and economic problem. In an effort to build our understanding of educators’ experiences of work in ECEC, this online questionnaire study (N = 570) gathered basic foundational data on Australian educators’ workload. We focused specifically on educators' work hours (working with and away from children, paid and unpaid hours, distracted and interrupted time at work, and breaks) and workload demands [using Spector and Jex’s (1998) Quantitative Workload Inventory]. This study makes a novel theoretical contribution, combining demand theory from occupational stress literature with theory on ECEC quality, by additionally gathering educators’ perspectives on the relationship between workload and quality, including quality interactions with children. Many educators in this study reported spending a significant amount of time working away from children, experiencing frequent distractions and interruptions. Most agreed that they are concerned that children are not receiving enough of their time. A substantial majority of educators also agree that their workload hinders ECEC quality, with insufficient time for all their work tasks, which often spread into unpaid hours. Our study is the first to quantify and report on educators’ unpaid hours, which appear to constitute a sizeable component of educator workload. Our study establishes workload as a significant demand for ECEC educators, confirming that there may be a relationship between educator.