To feel undervalued and under paid

[serc]

I've worked in care homes for many years, my current hourly rate is £9.50 per hour.

My son is 18 and is about to leave school he has got a job in a factory assembling parts. To bridge the gap between school and uni. It's his first job so has no experience. His starting rate is £11.25!

AIBU to feel seriously undervalued and under paid?

It's funny you should say this. The company I work for is currently paying new workers £1 an hour more than the rest of us. I just don't get it. We have been told Ava pay review, but that was weeks ago and still no word. So I now work with someone new to the job who is paid more than me. It leaves a bitter taste. No wonder people aren't happy.

YANBU t all. I work in early years and we feel just the same. I’m so sorry.

I think the type of factory work your son is doing will traditionally attract men and care work is predominantly female. That is why.

Well, it is unskilled labour, notwithstanding the fact that it's an undesirable role for most people.

YANBU OP.

i always think that care work must be one of the hardest, most exhausting, gruelling and joyless jobs going - it’s a vitally important role, but at the same time I cannot imagine why anyone would want to be a care worker. You should absolutely be paid so much more than you are.

Agree with a PP that the history of it is possibly that it’s seen as low status women’s work, which in itself is a disgrace.

I'm a social worker in adult social care and I'm perpetually amazed at the difference in pay between myself and those providing the care. It's a travesty. I place some really horrific offenders in care homes that cost £2-3k per week, and yet the carers still earn just above minimum wage.

The value we place on care, our elderly and our children's care workers is so messed up.

Care homes and nurseries.

WHO is making all this money?? Who?

And to the question :

Why do you think Carers get paid so poorly? I don't understand the reason.

^
I'll be blunt. Because they think the work doesn't deserve more money. They don't see the value of the work done. Same with childcare.

Oh yeah - and it's women's work. And you know what they think of that.

Could you go go into private caring? In a private home?

Leave then. Genuinely. This cycle will continue if people keep working for these salaries. We're seeing droves of care workers leaving to go to places like Aldi that pay £10.10p/h and require significantly less training.

Yes, I understand that you should be paid more but there is no incentive to do so for the people that are raking it in unless their backs are against the wall.

Employee power is huge atm as there aren't enough people to fill roles so vote with your feet. They'll soon change their tune when it starts to hit their wallets.

Absolutely. You ARE undervalued and underpaid.
I work for adult services- we are in crisis and nothing is happening. Care work needs to be properly valued and properly paid. It needs to be seen as a valid career in its own right. It requires constantly updated training, resilience, patience, empathy, trustworthiness and intelligence.
Every single organisation I know is having recruitment and retention issues, even the “best” places with the best pay and conditions. Why would you do such a demanding job when you get paid more in a supermarket?
The result is, we have people eligible for care, who need care…but we can’t always find people to provide it. And that is a terrible situation. Families are at breaking point. Carers can’t afford to keep working for so little. We need change and we need it NOW!!

All I can suggest is to get a job where son works and earn more. My son used to have one of these picking order jobs though and he regularly walked 12,000-18,000 steps per shift.

We have an elderly population that we don't have the staff to care for

Reap what you sow I guess. Baby boomers as a generation chose to prioritise private wealth and growth at the expense of societal needs. If there's not enough carers to look after them now or when they need them tough.

I could never be a care worker - that sort of pay for life and death work is a disgrace, and the roots of why is it so low paid is because it was seen as women's work
So true, and sickening
Extremely important work (where would be without cleaners or care workers?!)
they're still paid like shit though.

Unfortunately care staff will always be crap pay, they won't be able to pay 12 and hour because the resident's won't be able to afford care the weekly fees cover room gas electricity food all staff plus bigger bosses higher up in the chain having 1 carer 24 7 would cost 1596 in wages alone then ni pension ect in to insurance, training

I’m guessing she has the NPLQ.
you don’t have to confirm or deny.

It's disgusting that care assistants are paid so badly.

I work in a specialist icu for infectious diseases so our icu care assistants are so needed and really needed. They get us really needed equipment when our patients are crashing; they help us do personal care, 3 of my amazing health care assistants braid hair better than I do, so as a team we wash a patient (and I mean really wash a patient, wash the blood out of the hair if it's a trauma or we just wash the hair with shampoo, rinse it (maybe 3 times) and then I ask one of them to braid the persons hair in a tight braid and it won't get matted

This is one of 100000 things out HCAs do that I couldn't do my job without.

It's a travesty that the nhs now pays 1p above the minimum wage

@Bubblesandsqueak1 isn't that disgusting though?

They don't pay more. In fact some pay less.

Yabu because wages just aren't based on how much a person doing that role deserves. In community pharmacy assistants will be earning minimum wage or a pound above that, it doesn't take into account all the extra learning they are expected to do to gain qualifications in their own time, it doesn't reflect the level of responsibility that goes with their jobs. This is why staff morale is low and people leave.

You do deserve higher wages and carers shouldn't be expected to just run on altruism and it being a vocation, that doesn't pay the bills. You should be adequately compensated for the very tough job that you do.

It is disgusting but won’t change because someone is always willing to do it.
You absolutely do deserve much much more.

So leave and do the same job as your son then? Alternatively, take action - join a union and go on strike.

You could go self employed and become a private carer? Going self employed was the best thing I ever did. I spent 4 years teaching myself a pretty easy skill anyone can learn. I get paid £80-£100 per hour meaning I only have to work two 10 hour days per month to pay my bills. I don't have a single GCSE to my name or any other formal qualifications. I'm always encouraging my friends and family to go self employed and start their own businesses - there really is nothing stopping anyone from doing the same as me.

Your pay isn't determined by the social value of your work, but by the market value. To get paid more you have to increase your bargaining power. If you are paid minimum wage, your individual bargaining power is zero. So if they could pay you less they would, but the government uses its bargaining power to put a minimum floor on that number.

To get paid more you need to increase your bargaining power by organising with other care workers collectively bargaining for pay increases. You have no power alone.

I see childcare and care jobs advertised constantly. What would /will honestly happen if they just can’t get people to work in these jobs which should be highly valued in society? In Ireland here people who work in preschool don’t get paid all summer , no proper sickness or maternity pay? Just why? Why can’t they be salaried like other jobs ?! What happens in other countries.