The 2018 Who Cares for Kansas Children Study examines the status of the Kansas child care workforce and is a follow-up to the Early Education Workforce studies that began in 2002 and were updated in 2005, 2006, 2010, and 2015. These studies continue to show that the social and economic importance of high quality child care does not translate into good wages or benefits for Kansas child care providers. Kansas child care providers are paid low wages in exchange for working long hours which may be influencing the attractiveness of the field to workers. In fact, when comparing survey responses from 2010 and 2018, there are fewer young people entering the early childhood field creating growing concerns for capacity building efforts (age category = under 30 years of age). More supports are needed for this undervalued profession! Research confirms that accessible, affordable, and high quality child care is critically important so families can work and businesses can grow — strengthening our economy and ensuring strong leaders for our future. (author abstract)