To think most people have no idea how little HLTAs/Teaching Assistants earn?

[LorlieS]

Anybody want to hazard a guess at the average monthly income of a ft HLTA/TA?

It really is quite shocking!

@TheCircusOfLife Where am I complaining? I am stating that for what support staff do the pay is unacceptable.
You're the lady with the well-paid job and wealthy husband, aren't you?

I'm a TA working in Early Years. Paid working hours are 8.45-3.30 5 days a week. But I usually work 8-3.30 - the children come in at 8.40!! I plan for and carry out at least 15 Speech and Language interventions every day(sometimes as many as 21), 6 Phonics interventions every day and 30 Handwriting interventions a week, as well as daily Phonics, Maths, Mastering Number and Topic sessions (all for the lower ability/SEN children). I change 8 nappies every day alongside the interventions and groups and supervising free play indoors and outside and deal with some very challenging behaviour (get bitten and kicked/hit several times a week).
For this I take home £900/month.
It's a total joke.

@notyourmummy Absolutely this. But don't you dare complain about the wages please - just get a better job(?!!)
I stand with you.

Never complain about the wages - we're privileged to work term time only...think of all the time we get with our children.....

'I struggle to pay the rent and provide for my 3 kids. I have a husband but he works ft in social care so doesn't earn a great salary.
Between us we come out with under £3k p/m with no other support. It's bloody difficult and I know we're by no means the worst off'

'As a HLTA with 3 kids, rent to pay and a low-earning husband, I wish I was in the position to be working for "fun" money. It's rough 😞'

Struggling financially in a job you love can be just as depressing as earning well in a job you hate.

But its a very part time role?

Its shorter hours than a normal 9-5.30. For many people it comes with very little commute as there are schools everywhere. You get 12 weeks off per year.

Its a minimum wage job, thats true. Its pointless talking about the annual income and comparing it to full time jobs when it works out at not much more than 50-60% of a full time job.

Notyourmummy why not do something else then? There are loads of other occupationa offering better pay

@LorlieS I don't think I've mentioned what my husband earns. But he is a higher earner yes. I earn well but that is because I worked toward a career that I knew would be a higher salary. I grew up very poor,(electric running out on the metre, bailiffs etc) I know what it is to struggle and it is absolutely miserable and stressful. At least it's within your power to earn more being qualified. It's the TAs who don't have any means to earn a higher wage that I feel sorry for as it is valuable work.

@TheCircusOfLife WIth respect, you're both high earners with privately educated children(?) so how would you know how it is? You don't.

I lived your lifestyle once. It was far more miserable than the one I'm living now!

Yes my life isn't easy, and yes TAs should be paid more for the job they do. But clearly you think my work as a TA is less valuable because I'm a qualified teacher(!)

@LorlieS Working class people don't just become 'high earners' they work extraordinarily hard for it. Both my husband and I were (still are) working class.
No, my kids were never privately educated. They are at uni now and work PT jobs.

No, I NEVER said your work is less valuable as you are a qualified teacher. The role is valuable regardless of who is doing it. My point was, you're not happy about your wages when you have the ability to do something about it... many people dont' have that choice.

@TheCircusOfLife Ah so that's why "working-class" people don't all work well-paid jobs...because they're lazy(!!)

@LorlieS 'Ah so that's why "working-class" people don't all work well-paid jobs...because they're lazy(!!)'

What on Earth? How have you come to that conclusion. My parents never earned high salaries, but they worked extremely hard and were fantastic parents. However, YOU are choosing to work PT hours though and with that comes PT wages.

@TheCircusOfLife I think I know you! Did you study Sculpture at Saint Martin's College? 😀

@LorlieS No. I'm in Chemical Engineering.

So we shouldn't do anything about the rubbish wage of this job or other sectors which are primarily seen as women's work because we can get better jobs! Who does the TA roles then or the care work? And we all know the care sector is knackered because of the poor wages and conditions! I've also worked in that too.

School can't function without TAs because of the needs of children who are now attending mainstream school!

We can absolute moan about the rubbish wages, and the ever expanding list of duties and responsibilities we are expected to do when most are paid slightly more per hour than they would get at Aldi! Like others have said our role needs to be valued by parents, teacher and government more than as 'an assistant to the teacher' and actually reflect the new role to match the demands of the job and education as it is!

But that's one of the issues that we have.

It's pt therefore a women's = mother & wife job.

The wages are so low that only a cretin demographic of people are able and willing to do the job.
What does that teach our children?

Not lucky enough to have met a male teaching assistant that was willing to stick to it longer than 12 months!

@itispersonal that first paragraph is just completely off on a tangent and a another discussion altogether. No, not all people can just get better jobs! That is the whole premise of my argument.

🤣🤣

No the OP is saying TAs are poorly paid which they are in the vast majority. You say she shouldn't moan as she could earn more! That doesn't address the poor wage for the sector does it!

Since when do we get that pay rise every year! I had not had a pay rise in years until this year!!

The TAs in my school get in on the dot of 9 and leave on the dot of 330. Totally understandable, they are not paid enough to hang around. They don't do any work at home.

Like has been mentioned before it's not a salary issue it's the number of hours you can work issue.

@happypillsareworking I get an pay rise each year as my scale point on the grade goes up! Also in my LA the wages have gone up each year!

@itispersonal They don't go up automatically each year here. And what happens when a teacher reaches M6?

Wow I'm working in the wrong place but I am at the top of the scale. No pay rise here for years

@happypillsareworking
It is definitely a pay issue - £10.50ph for the duties and responsibilities we do is not right! Is it comparable to my dh who does actually work in a supermarket no!

@itispersonal So what would your solution be? How much do you think a TA should be paid? The reason it is a low paid job is because it is PT and requires no qualifications, it has nothing to do with being 'women's work.'