to think that as an experienced midwife I should earn more than a window cleaner?

[whatinthewhatnow]

My mum's window cleaner charges £18 for an hour's work. I get £17. Does society really value window cleaners more than midwives?

In no way showing off, and this rarely happens, but I did dramatically save a teeny life on wednesday. It was really fricking scary. I work so hard, my women seem to really like me and I really do try so hard for them. I feel totally undervalued and stressed and I'm beginning to wonder if it's worth it, for £17 a bloody hour. FFS. .

My DH is paid an hourly rate higher than you OP but that is not the amount he 'takes home' , from this he has to pay everything, taxes, NI, insurances, maintenance costs for vehicle and equipment, stationery, accountants fees, after everything has been paid/accounted for he gets the rest. Similar to a self employed window cleaner.

I don't believe some of the rubbish I have read on here.
As a mw you have other benefits attaches to you. A self employed window cleaner does not. Out of the £18, he has to pay petrol, insurance, materials travel etc. No sick pay, paid annual leave, stable hours.
In the scheme of things he gets 'paid' far less than you.
I also don't agree that a job is worth more because you have to study for it.
Being a mw is a job worthy of respect. However that does not mean the wage should be put because bob round the corner earns more.
I own my own business and my hourly rate far exceeds yours, sometimes. Other times its far less.
If you want the better pay and uncertainty of being self employed, go ahead and do it.
I know 2 ex NHS mw who work as self employed birth support.

Oh, and as for the ladder insurance, he uses a long reach hose. I reckon he earns up to £45/hr.

My window cleaner was telling me this week how difficult this summer has been as the bad weather means a lot of people tell him not to bother.

Window cleaners have no job security at all, in a recession it's a service many people have cancelled.

I imagine many of them struggle to make ends meet.

I didn't blame the window cleaner one bit, good for him. I made the comparison because I happened to notice it. I am not obsessed with thinking about my job against others, it just struck me when I saw mum's bill.

I think my work (and that of nurses, and teachers) is undervalued. I think our society thinks it's ok to pay us bog standard wages and then is surprised when some nurses and midwives and teachers are a bit shit and demotivated. I believe if the state paid us better they would recruit more easily and could therefore be much more selective about who they employ, so the service provided would be better.

I know the window cleaner has to pay his pension and tax from his £18. So do I (but I acknowledge my pension is better than his). I also spend time getting to and from my place of work. And I pay insurance via my union fees. Yes I benefit from sick pay.

And yes, I do think skilled workers should be paid more than unskilled workers.

OP YANBU, esp in your last post - but - then you would also have to accept that the profession becomes more competitive and it's easier to get rid of the minority who do a crappy job.

£17 per hour is not bog standard.

I disagree that unskilled jobs should automatically be worse paid.

Do you get paid annual leave OP?

Emptying bins is a hard physical dirty job and out in all weathers.Damn right he should be paid more than a teacher.

Just because someone charges £18 per hour doesn't mean that they get 37 x 18. There will be lots of unpaid time he will do such as travelling, chatting to clients, doing his accounts, collecting the money in the evening, chasing up bad payers, etc.. A self-employed "£18" per hour works out a lot less than a salaried £18 per hour.

Also, he cannot work in adverse weather conditions either.

UABU

Teaching is pretty hard to get into these days BTW. I don't think a higher salary would make any difference. I can't speak for midwifery though.

YABVU as he does not earn £18 per hour, he charges that much. As others have said he has to travel, pay tax, cannot work all hours, no guarantee of work, no sick or holiday pay.

Is midwifery necessarily all that skilled.Most of the human race have managed to be born without a qualified midwife in attendance. And certainly with hospital midwifery the slightest thing goes wrong ,a doctor is called

I am a nurse.

I have also run my own business.

I went back into the NHS because the running costs and hassle of running a business simply wasn't worth the effort.

I work very hard and have a lot of responsibility, but I do have a decent pension scheme, my employer pays part of my malpractice insurance, and I get 5 weeks paid holiday, can claim overtime, and sick leave if I need it. You don't get any of that working for yourself.

None of us really know what problems and perks other people have in their chosen jobs.

I know I could be a lot worse off.

Actually - I am grateful for the fact that I have a job. I live in London and so many people around me are really struggling

Sancerreity, I'd like to see you do what I do in a shift on delivery suite without the amount of skill I have. No need.

I would have agreed with you before dc, but no disrespect to you, when I had dc my experience with midwives was that most of them were pretty lazy and entitled. In my experience the good ones were the ones who qualified overseas, in Zimbabwe etc, they also made a point of telling me this.

Yabu

bin men deserve every penny - who'd want to do that job?

I pay my window cleaner £8.50. It takes him about 15 mins as he has lots of posh gear. I wouldn't fancy his job at all. He works hard for his wage though and is a lovely guy so good luck to him.

our bin men are also lovely guys - have no idea what bin men earn

Benedicts but there is need in thinking other jobs are beneath you.

We still give our bin guy tinnies around Christmas. :)

DanteV no there isn't and I never said there was I said the OP was being unreasonable in my first post.

There is one midwife at our local hospital who could never be paid enough. She saved my DDs life. She had persistent pulminary hypertension of the newborn and was failing rapidly. It was in August, on the day new doctors are released on the unsuspecting public. She called the doc, he said to leave her and see how she goes. She said 'If we leave her, we will lose her'. She fought that doctor for my DDs life. She got taken to SCBU, then to a hospital 60 miles away. I will remember that MWs name till the day I die (or dementia sets in).

Having said that, the window cleaner is in seasonal work, self employed, travelling between jobs, so you are being a little bit unreasonable.

I earn £16 ish per hour as a midwife with around 11 years experience. Then I pay the usual tax. Ni, pension, student loan and insurance. I reckon I clear about £10.

If it wasn't for the extra 1/3 on sats and 2/3 on nights I'd probably do something with less responsibility for a little less.

These days I think its justifiable to be a midwife as I'm 12 years experienced so I find it a little less stressful and it doesn't eat into my personal time so much in terms of worry and stress.

If I were starting again - no way.

Your attitude smacks of snobbery. Urgh.