To wonder why my job is so low paid and feel frustrated by it?

[eggsontoast9]

I’m a nursery nurse and I earn £8.72 an hour (minimum wage for over 25’s, I’m 26).
I’ve been in this job for the last three years and do enjoy it apart from the odd day but I’ve always wondered why it’s so low paid. It’s a hard job. I know a lot of people assume we just sit on our bums all day and play with children but that’s really not the case. I work in the baby unit and we can have anywhere up to 15 babies on a busy day, which in itself is bloody hard work. We have to deal with sick, poo, unhappy/unwell children, difficult parents etc. We have to complete paperwork now, normally whilst looking after the children because we’re short staffed and can’t always have time away from the room. We work long hours not because we want to but because we have to as the wages are so low (I work 7:30-6:00 four days a week and 7:30-5:00 another day). Holidays aren’t very generous. I guess the only bonus is we have weekends off unless we have training. I suppose it’s the same as health care jobs such as care assistants.

I like the job and work with a good team but can’t see myself staying here long term just because of the money which is a shame as it’s really hard to find a job that you enjoy sometimes. I was speaking to my younger cousin who’s 18 and she told me she’s just started a job in Asda earning £9.20 an hour and whilst I’m extremely happy for her and proud of her, it has made me realise my job is incredibly low paid and not very well respected in terms of how hard we all work. Before anyone jumps on me, I’m not saying my cousin shouldn’t earn that amount as I appreciate working in a supermarket is hard work to and any job should be paid a fair wage.

What is more frustrating is that we have to complete training each year and work towards gaining qualifications yet our wages are based on our age, so IMO there isn’t any progression available.

AIBU?

You're right OP, that's shockingly low for such an important role.

Yes the sector needs to be nationalized in my opinion, free market pushes wages down as nurseries are struggling to stay open. Leads to high staff turnover and often quite a young workforce doing really tough work.
Also job not well respected. I am lucky to work at ex childrens centre and get paid ok, but still not nearly what the job is worth.

@Sparkles715

I run a nursery and so wish I could pay the staff more but government funding and parental willingness/ability to pay are limited so that means pay is limited to. It’s rubbish.

I think this is the crux of it. The money isn't there. If nurseries increase pay they have to increase cost which would then make working for many women not financially viable so would force more women out of work. The only answer really is more government investment but that isn't going to happen anytime soon.

Yes the sector needs to be nationalized in my opinion

I agree. Or at least needs the significant subsidy that is the norm in other European countries.

One thing that was striking was how little nursery/early years provision featured in early lockdown speeches and reports despite the huge burden nursery closures had on working parents (well, especially women). In those first few months it was as if the sector didn’t even exist. It then became obvious how much we needed childcare in order to reopen the economy...but still we keep seeing it as a private matter rather than a public good.

Sadly, it’s also just an extension of how much this sector has been neglected over the last decade, and ever since Sure Start was founded.

Become a childminder and set your own fees? Childminders are generally less expensive than nurseries but they tend to make more personally than nursery workers. You don't HAVE to be cheaper than a nursery though. You could set your fees to attract those who don't want to pay quite as much as they would for a private nanny but want more personal care for their children than they could get at a nursery.

My mum did this for about 10 years and was brilliant. She was a maths and music teacher but wanted to be at home more when we were teenagers. Other childminders would bitch and moan about how much more she was charging than them which I never really understood the logic of but they couldn't compete really - location was perfect and she was really structured with the kids and probably better qualified.

Problem with increased government funding or nationalisation is that non parents will complain because "we chose to have children".

There needs to be a much greater change in how employers view parents too. My maternity leave is only 18 weeks - none full paid - I'm the main earner by 3x so I HAVE to go back to work. There is no appreciation that 1/3 of women now earn more than husbands and that 2 wages are needed to maintain the minimum standard of living (without drawing on any benefits)

When my company worked out how much it would cost to Increase maternity pay to 6 months full time the cost to a company of 1000s was only £50k!

We also seem to lag hugely behind other countries where large companies provide subsidised in house crèches/nurseries

I knew you were going to say nursery nurse. Me too. For all we do, I don't get it either. The paperwork, the planning, the observations, the cleaning, the day to day care, the education. Managing so many different sometimes conflicting needs, rooms of 20+ children at times, often in an environment which has little spare money to quickly solve challenges. And which seems to have a turnover of staff. A large proportion of the work force with young children wouldn't be able to manage without it, yet it's so so undervalued.

I'm starting to consider my options. I'm pushing 40, have two young kids of my own, little opportunity to better our home life and I can't see how it would be physically possible to do this til retirement. I think it's often seen as temporary school leaver work, an nvq pathway for young women especially. But the majority in my setting are at least late 20's and beyond. A good quarter are older than me.
I love the job, you have to to be in it don't you, it's a shame the pay doesn't reflect the skills and knowledge and care. But then care roles never are particularly well compensated are they.

I have always felt that nursery staff work long hard hours, have lots of paperwork and deserve so much more. I have also spoken to really talented members of staff at our local nursery who have left the job for alternative careers such as retail, saying they love their job but it just doesn't pay enough. It's so wrong and I feel for you all.

It has to make a profit or break even to be viable. If your pay was upped they would have to up fees they charge, people can/will only pay so much .
It will never be a well paid sector it can't generate the turn over needed to pay higher wages

As a parent who uses a nursery 4 days a week, please know how appreciated your work is and you are to the families of the children you care for.

I love that my son has staff who do so much for him that he chats on about them all weekend. Its a sure set way to get him in the car, to talk about his key worker.

As much as nursery is very expensive for the parents, I wish the government provided more funding to allow staff to be paid respectful amounts for what they do.

I'm sorry you feel under valued, but please know that to many families, you are an extention of their home. People trust you to leave their children with day in day out, to care for them for the majority of the day and show them life skills during their most absorbant years. Please remember that on the tough days

Generally speaking nursery care is seen as expensive. For childcare to be viable it has to cost less than a parent earns, otherwise the majority would choose not to use it.

So nurseries have to keep your fees at a manageable rate then that limits what is a available to pay staff.

I pay an extortionate amount for my DS nursery - I had no idea all the lovely staff were so underpaid until post YANBU however If they increased their day rates I would have to consider taking him out. Honestly don’t know how you do it 💐 onwards and upwards, you have some great ideas of what to do next - make it happen!

Just my calculation. But at 15 children in a room and £15000a month at £1000a month and using the £2500 part month calculated uptgread. You need a 3:1 ratio so that is 5 adults....so £12500 is just salaries for the people in the room at minimum wage. Then you need to cover costs for people providing food, rent, resources, heating, management salaries etc. There is not much money left over unless people are willing to pay much more than £1000 a month (which I know I did... £1300 at my dc nursery). But still, there is not that much that can be done unless people are willing to pay much more, which many simply cannot afford, and unfortunately the government funded hours just make the situation worse

@Iamthewombat the ratios would be 1:3 in the baby room. So the salaries would need to be much higher as need 5 people rather than the 3 you calculated

I always think this. My nursery is brilliant, the staff are great. It's stupidly expensive and yet the staff are paid a low wage

It's a very hard job. I couldn't do it and pleased to have the facility

@eggsontoast9 I’m an ex nursery nurse. I also was in the baby room, it is hard work. I kept on my weekend college job working for Sainsbury’s as the pay was bad and worked 7 days a week.
I also became an NVQ assessor in that time and had students, but after 18months in the job I left and became cabin crew and was there for 15 years until I had my own dc.
You may love the job, but sometimes there comes a time where you have to weigh up your options.

Care assistants are also on the minimum wage.
the thing is op you have job satisfaction.
that goes a long way

OP I think you’re spot on. Competition forces the day rate where I am, that and low average salaries too for all workers.

You’re not wrong OP. I’m really interested in Early Years and I did some bank cover in a nursery (I found multiple babies quite stressful though, so I don’t think I could work in a baby room. I think you’re amazing just for that!) but it’s the poor salary that mainly puts me off.

I saw one role advertised that said the suitable candidate needed to have at least a level 3 qualification (fair enough) but also needed to have at least 3 years relevant experience in a nursery. That position was paying minimum wage.

It’s absolutely ridiculous.

if you were paid more, then fees would be more

The government should subsidise it. Of COURSE they should. The children deserve well paid staff and the staff deserve good money to balance out their hard work and dedication.

the thing is op you have job satisfaction that goes a long way

Not when you want a nice holiday it doesn't! Or to send your child to ballet or horse riding lessons!

Ahh the job satisfaction vocational spiel. Doesn’t fill a fridge and keeps women in their place

@HeelsHandbagPerfumeCoffee

Ahh the job satisfaction vocational spiel. Doesn’t fill a fridge and keeps women in their place

fgs, job satisfaction doesnt just apply to women

There's no correlation between how hard you work and how much you earn.