Early care and education (ECE) is complex, highly skilled, emotionally and physically demanding work for which educators deserve to be adequately rewarded. California's early educators often exceed the minimum educational requirements for their jobs. More than one half of both center- and home-based educators hold an associate degree or higher (Kim et al., 2022). Additionally, they bring substantial experience to the field: 86 percent of center directors, 73 percent of family child care providers, and 61 percent of center teachers have more than 10 years of experience working in early care and education (Kim et al., 2022). Nonetheless, they face economic realities characterized by significant financial insecurities, low wages, and limited benefits. Despite decades of research showing the positive link between better compensation, educator well-being, and program quality, the wages and benefits in the ECE sector are persistently low (Whitebook et al., 2014; King et al., 2016; McLean et al., 2021). The resulting financial insecurity and economic worries can add to the already-stressful job of the ECE workforce, with negative effects on their overall health and well-being (Roberts et al., 2019). The difficult working conditions then lead to teacher turnover, teacher scarcity, and child care shortages (Khattar & Coffey, 2023). This report provides a new look at the reality of the economic well-being for California's early educators. It is the third in a series on early educator well-being. The report draws from the 2023 survey of 1,840 educators from all job roles across the state, as Phase 2 of the 2020 California Early Care and Education Workforce Study.