To think this is an unacceptable wage?

[Youthiswastedontheyoung]

I'm a qualified teacher with 21 years' experience who has just started supply so flexibility with a poorly husband and three kids of my own.
Just did a full day supply (8.30-3.30) and came out with £112 net.
Hubby thinks decent wage, I think piss-take!
Opinions please!

You don’t get paid to be a foster carer - it’s not a job. The pay you receive is to cover the child’s expenses, not pay yourself a salary.

Did you mean to be so rude?

There is no such thing as "acceptable". This was what you agreed to work for. If you weren't prepared to work for that and could do better elsewhere (whether in teaching or not) then you were free to go elsewhere.

£42k pa isn't poorly paid. It's a standard professional salary for a public sector staff member. Teachers, nurses, social workers, police officers are all on this or thereabouts.

We are realistic, we know what pay is like.

Minimum wage doesnt mean its extremely low
Its just a marker that they cant go below.

People have never been earning 20 pounds higher than minimum wage.

People usually earn 5-6 pounds more than minimum wage. That's net salary

Maybe my experience is in the City, but in the firms I worked at trainees start on the salaries you quoted and in MC-type firms they even start on six figures. Equity Partners are on over £1mil

Surely being a Foster carer is not a job its a choice, you can always go and work at the supermarket for 11.44

People aren’t

I think you should be getting £20 an hour

It's £20 an hour gross - that's way more than £5 above minimum wage. I hope you're not teaching maths!

They are also not paying you for your 21 years of experience - they don't care about that. You could have 3 years experience and still get the job.

When you changed to supply what exactly were you expecting?

Your salary seems commensurate with other teachers and similarly qualified professional tbh.

No they aren't. If your working week is only 32.5 hrs a week and you only work 39 weeks a year, and other similarly qualified professionals in other fields have a working week of 38-45 hrs a week and work 46 weeks a year, it's totally ridiculous not to take account of that in comparing professional salaries. I have enormous respect for teachers' professional qualifications and experience and accept that the lower working hours is rational but you can't expect to be paid the same as if you had a similar level of job and worked all year around rather than termtime only.

I thought you said it was net pay?

It's not £5 above NMW because that's the gross amount. The net (take home pay) after a day's work on NMW will be much lower after tax, NI etc.

Did you do any basic maths or learn about the difference between gross/net in your extensive education & experience?

Same!!

The thing is, as well all know, salaries haven’t kept up with COL. When I first qualified I earned £32,000 p/a. I felt really flush. Really well paid.

Now I earn about £42-7k and it isn’t great. Doesn’t go far, we are pay cheque to pay cheque.

so it’s a good salary for no responsibility, but its not great.

I agree with you. For context I pay my, very good, cleaner £18.50 an hour. For a qualified, experienced teacher I would expect more.

But they aren’t really utilising their experience though. Does 21 years of experience add much value for supply work?

I’m software engineer with 7 years experience, I take home £150 a day net for a longer day. With my experience I work on long complex projects where I add value. If I applied for a junior role and completed junior level tasks I couldn’t argue that I should earn more money just because I have experience that is not necessarily for the role.

With 21 years experience I would have thought they could do head of department/ head teacher roles and that’s how you get the extra pay right? Taking on responsibilities. OP has effectively applied for a junior role and is wondering why they aren’t getting senior pay.

A top wage police officer with same level of service as you is on around £46000 a year and that’s working nights, bank holidays and dealing with high work loads and dangerous situations. I’m not saying that’s a bad wage just that it’s similar to what you are unhappy with. Public sector work is never going to be lucrative.

Then get a different job.

But it is a job - providing a much needed resource for very vulnerable and often ‘damaged’ children. It’s not easy. If it wasn’t paid, no-one would do it. I don’t think you can often be a foster carer and work another full time job

You are massively underpaid.

Actually back in the day teaching wasn't a graduate profession - my dm certainly doesn't have a degree and taught for many years.

So that's over 2k a month AFTER tax? Pretty good I'd say!

I've seen people do that before , to make the wrong point.

They say " oh my take home net pay is 16 pounds an hour, that's only 4 pounds over the minimum wage. "

12 pounds per hour minimum wage is gross pay.

So the person on minimum wage comes out with much less in net pay.

Well, it’s less than you would earn if you were teaching under a contract. AND you’re not getting payments into the (generous) teachers’ pension. I always heard that supply teachers earned more than contract teachers, to make up for the lack of pension contributions? I’d be looking for a different agency if I were you, OP.

I pay my cleaner more than that, and no I don't live in the south.

Not for a degreed professional….