Why do people think some professional jobs like teachers/ midwives aren't paid well?

[Rollovers]

I read a lot on here about people moaning about teacher/ nurse/ midwife wages etc. I thought in the NHS you start off on around 25k which I think is a decent wage. I've seen on MN alot of nurses and midwives earning £30/40k upwards.

I genuinely am wondering why people think that's low pay? What would they want as a reasonable salary? Am I not understanding something. This is a genuine question and I am in no way being goady.

I earn very low @17k so perhaps my perception is slightly skewed.

formely oh it made me so mad when that ridiculous statistic was trotted through parliament when our pay was being debated! Surely they should use the mode average?! What's the bloody point if wages from the likes band 8a Matrons who are few and far between are making our wages look better than they are and will ever be.

@Holidayshopping yes and YES!!!

portia oh god in the back of an ambo?? My para friend is still secretly peed off he's never had a baby named after him haha

@Holidayshopping sorry I thought that said and do they differ? Yes they do... much Better work life balance. Planning is still done but we don’t spend hours at it. And marking is a tick on a page mostly, children’s work is mainly done in workbooks so there is no finding and making sheets etc. it’s s much more solid curriculum that doesn’t get changed every few years so that helps A LOT!!

Reading even more of the thread...

Speechless and disgusted at the ignorant posts.

Ive been covering 60 miles of patients today. I was the only nurse as a lone worker. Due to sickness and staff leaving. Completely unsafe for patients and myself. Thats no doctor or colleagues as a back up. I was it today.

Oh yes I had an extremely quick labour and the ambulance was the only option, hot as far as hospital ambulance bay and dd wasn't waiting any longer, paramedic suggested her name so I went along with his suggestion because he was so professional

I’m a senior nurse in primary care. I’ve been qualified nearly 25 years. I’ve got two degrees, diplomas, postqualifying certificates up the ying yang. I train junior doctors. I mentor student nurses. I assess, treat, prescribe and review.

I get paid not much more than some cleaners. (Not dissing cleaners, they do a valuable job but they aren’t qualified in the same way I am) My hourly rate is shite. I love my job but I certainly don’t do it for the money.

The mother of a friend of dd is a midwife. She still tells us of the times she did three 12 hour shifts Friday, Saturday and Sunday when her dc were at primary. Her DH did the childcare saving the family thousands in childcare. How many jobs are that flexible. FWIW I'd have thought a midwife would be able to advise about rates of posterior babies turning when advising re c sections and about how to prevent mastitis. But no.

Wheeley hi and how're you?
I'm bleddy grateful to nurses what they do and if truth be told so are most people so please don't be upset at what people type on here

roses, I have across the board top grades in Scottish equivalent to A Levels, and a 2:1 from a Russell Group university.

You'll never guess what I do for a living!?

Nurses won't strike because patients come first- is there another profession that won't strike? That could be the problem.

Oh theroses - odfod..

The mother of a friend of dd is a midwife. She still tells us of the times she did three 12 hour shifts Friday, Saturday and Sunday when her dc were at primary. Her DH did the childcare saving the family thousands in childcare. How many jobs are that flexible.

Your point being??? Every other job people seem to have on here is able to be done from home when the boiler packs up, or can negotiate Flexi working, or compressed hours or whatever else... some flexibility (which comes at a cost usually) is not unique to nursing and midwifery?
And as for saving money on childcare, again how is that relevant? My neighbour has her mum do all her childcare but so what. It is irrelevant to how much she gets paid.

My Gran did dds childcare while I was a lifeguard trying to save those in danger and not sitting in judgement

Ohtheroses - why would you ask a nurse about a midwifery question? You do know they are 2 different professions don’t you?

Do you think she liked working every bloody weekend? That's a whole lot of life to miss out on. It's very difficult to get wrap around childcare for 12h shifts.

Yes you can make it work but it's usually at the cost of any kind of family life.

I am saddened that a poster considers 12 hour shifts as 'getting her life back', rather than questioning who thinks 11 continuous 7.5 hour evening shifts are acceptable.

It is, indeed, a race to the bottom.

I have a degree, post graduate diploma and a masters level qualification for a specialist area of education which took a total of 6 years to complete( The specialist teacher qualification was actually undertaken whilst working.)

I also have have 32 years experience in a range of different settings: mainstream, specialist provisions and sensory support services.

I am at the top of the pay scale for the job I do and my full time salary would be £42k... I really don't think that is all that much considering my qualifications and experience. I have no option to climb any further as am at the top of the upper pay scale.

Add this to the fact I can't claim my full pension until I am 67...

Hi Portia im alright apart from the job. Havent seen you on the Respo thread, hope everythings ok?? Xxx

And reading some of the twaddle on here after a day like today....just boils my blood. I cant believe some of the comments. I hope theyre never in a position to find out why a nurse qualifies for decent pay.

Her DH did the childcare saving the family thousands in childcare

I don’t understand. Whose job was flexible? The DH because he could do wrap around care on the Friday and not at the weekend?

The NHS shift worker? How would that be flexible if you were a single parent?

OhTheRoses generally posts bollocks on most threads like this. They have little to no understanding about what nurses or midwives do. She has mentioned breastfeeding and posterior lying babies and nurses ....actually those would be midwives and I call bollocks on any midwife not being able to give you an understanding of how babies lie in the uterus.

As for the 12 hour shifts...most midwives get NO say in how they work . It’s why the service is so understaffed as the shifts don’t fit easily with families.

But OhTheRoses knows someone so it must be true.....do fuck off dearie you know fuck all.

DuckWillow - are you my new best friend.

Thanks so much for that link, CountFrosco. This paragraph jumped out at me. Until 2016 public sector was better paid than private. Just the pay freeze to explain current situation.

They ARE poorly paid jobs given the skill and responsibility. When I was a fairly junior solicitor I earned more than a senior teacher/nurse/midwife but with nowhere near the responsibility and societal importance (I was doing commercial law at the time - nothing groundbreaking!).

This is amplified by huge housing costs in some areas. A problem that is present in many highly developed "desirable" countries. If your essential workers - healthcare and education - can't afford to buy a home or live in your area - this is a glaringly obvious inequality problem.

The language on here is a true testament to the professionalism of the nursing profession.