Teacher pay linked to youth mental health outcomes in new research

In the mid-1990s, a high school student in rural Missouri dreamed of earning $100,000 a year, an amount four times greater than their household income at the time. Decades later, the financial reality for teachers remains challenging. According to data from the National Education Association, starting salaries for K-12 teachers in the 2023-24 school year averaged $58,409 in California and $46,526 nationwide.

The author recounts pursuing a career centered on teaching, with expectations of job security. However, even after receiving tenure as a professor in 2019, they experienced housing instability and spent months living in a shelter. "Did my housing instability impact my work life? How could it not? Housing and transportation security matter for our well-being," said Megan Thiele Strong.

Strong notes that many K-12 teachers and university faculty face similar struggles due to low wages. The profession is historically underpaid and devalued because it is seen as "women’s work." According to Strong: "Teaching has long been underpaid and devalued because it’s seen as women’s work. Like caregiving and nursing, teaching is a pink-collar profession — treated as an extension of women’s unpaid domestic labor, and compensated accordingly. We devalue women and their work; thus, we pay teachers too little."

Strong argues that underpaying teachers not only impacts their personal lives but also affects students’ well-being. Data collected over more than two decades shows that lower teacher pay correlates with poorer youth mental health outcomes. The article highlights troubling statistics: nearly 40 percent of LGBTQ+ youth have contemplated suicide; in 2021, 30 percent of teen girls seriously considered suicide; boys die by suicide at four times the rate of girls; and in 2023, 9.5% of high school students attempted suicide.

Teachers often serve as first responders to students' mental health needs but are frequently expected to do so without adequate resources or training. The 2024 Merrimack College Teacher Survey found that nearly half (48 percent) of public school teachers reported that their mental health interfered with their ability to teach.

Strong cites research co-authored with Javier Corredor from Universidad Nacional de Colombia showing that higher investments in teacher salaries correlate with lower teen suicide risk at the state level over a period spanning from 1991 to 2016. "Even when accounting for a range of economic, religious, and socio-cultural variables, we found that higher pay tracked with lower teen suicide risk," said Strong.

Currently, the national average teacher salary stands at $72,030. The article questions what would be required to increase this figure significantly: "What would it take to raise this value to $272,030? Not a miracle, just political will."

Strong concludes by calling for greater investment in educators: "If we want a healthy, renewable society, the classroom space is a great place to start — with well-supported educators and thriving students. Let’s stop saying we appreciate teachers and start proving it, in policy, in practice and in pay."