Preschool Teachers’ Financial Well-Being and Work Time Supports: Associations with Children’s Emotional Expressions and Behaviors in Classrooms

The current study examined associations among teachers\u27 financial well-being, including teachers\u27 wages and their perceptions of their ability to pay for basic expenses, and teachers\u27 work time supports, including teachers\u27 paid planning time, vacation days, and sick days, and children\u27s positive emotional expressions and behaviors in preschool classrooms. Analyses controlled for teachers\u27 education and experience, as well as classroom quality (as assessed by the CLASS). Results suggest that teachers\u27 financial well-being is associated with children\u27s positive emotional expressions and behaviors in classrooms. Specifically, teachers\u27 wages positively relate to children\u27s positive emotional expressions and behaviors in classrooms, and children in classrooms of teachers who can pay for their basic expenses exhibit more positive emotional expressions and behaviors than children in classrooms of teachers who cannot pay for their basic expenses. Implications of the effects of early childhood teachers\u27 financial well-being on children\u27s emotional experiences in classrooms are discussed