to think the going rate for a child care worker should be higher than for a cleaner?

[witchandchips]

and if so should we lobby for the early years grant to be increased so that nurseries can afford to pay their workers more?

same goes for care workers for the elderly - I used to get paid the glorious rate of £5.50phr (before the minimum wage went up to £5.52 or whatever it is now) to look about elderly people with dementia working night shifts!!

oh and if I was still wokring for them now I'd be on £5.70 a hour for the same hours (9.45pm-7am).

Riven, even if there was a union, the private companies still might not be able to afford to pay more.

I was a bit at this weeks strike, considering government nursery workers are on 16,000 a year and private are on under 12,000...

In the nursery sector, parents already think they're paying too much lol so how can the nursery increase fees without losing children.

I now work in a make up factory with zero responsibilty for the same hourly rate I was on as a baby room supervisor in a private day nursery. It was purely the love of the job that kept me there, untill I got ill.

MadamePlatypus on Thu 17-Jul-08 18:30:40

that was one of the best and truest posts I've seen here in 5 years

From a carers point of view pay is pretty crap. I have worked at alot of residential homes as an agency worker and have heard from permanent staff how bad it is. I am just glad that its alot better on the agency, I am not in it for the money but it does help.

I work a night shift for a private (well known) company on a dementia unit. I get paid the pittance of £5.52 ph - I cant afford to work there anymore and tbh, I dont want to. Its an incredibly challenging job, the hardest that I have ever done, yet we are completly unsupported by management and I feel that the comapny as a whole is taking the piss.

The work that I do is not reflected in my pay. This is sad- I love my job but will not have the piss taken out of me by a massive private company. Im an excellent carer- its their loss, its unfortunate that the only real losers will be the residents as all the good staff are not prepared to put up with the crap anymore.

When I see the tosspot 'regional manager' pull up onto the car park in his flash car I want to slash his tyres.

my DP has just got a new job - working with young adults with complex Autism Spectrum Disorders - 37hrs a week, where he will probably be scratched, bitten, punched, etc etc on a daily basis - he'll be paid the grand total of £14k a year - bloody hard work, with little/no thanks but with poor pay (IMO) - and they wonder why it's so hard to find people to work in these types of jobs.....

HI, I LIVE IN THE MIDLANDS JSU ON THE OUT SKIRTS OF LEICESTER AND COVENTRY. I AM IN THE PROCESS OF SETTING UP A SMALL CHILDCARE BUSINESS, COMPROMISING OF NANNYING AND BABYSITTING. I NEED TO RESEARCH HOW MUCH PARENTS ARE WILLING TO PAY PER CHILD PER HOUR. CONSIDERING I WILL HAVE PUBLIC LIABILITY, CAR INSUANCE. ONE TO ONE SUPERVISION, TAKE TO PLAY GROUPS ECT.
APPRECIATE ANY RESPONSE.
THANX CHER

"parent's pay tons for private education but don't seem to want to pay out for early years"

I would have to dispute that.. my kids are currently at nursery and are starting school this September. When looking into schools we were amazed to find that we could send our children to private school for less than we were paying at nursery.

Nursery staff aren't on crap pay because parents dont pay more. I know of more women who don't work because they can't afford the costs than know people who can afford it comfortably. I agree with the OP better Government funding for childcare providers is part of the answer.

btw: I am hugely sympathetic to anyone who works in a nursery because the pay is so rubbish.

Not really.

Cleaning is a far worse job than childcare.

I thnk Anna hits the nail on the head

hey madame platypus, I pay my nanny £25,000pa plus a car plus 5 weeks holiday

If you think that is a pittance then fine, but I think many people would disagree with you

FAQ as a matter of interest, WHY is your DP doing that incredibly challenging, stressful job for £14k pa? That isn't a living wage. Why does he do it? I'm genuinely interested.

Yes it should be higher but it won't be because caring is undervalued in our profit driven society. SAHMs are often said to be 'sat on ther arses' or 'doing nothing' so looking after kids is not seen as 'real' work which impacts the job market. Also, like someone said, everything revolves around profits, supply/demand and price mechanisms which means the price needs to be kept low for people to be able to afford the serivce. There would be little point providing a service that no-one would use/afford.

Hmmm... DH had just got a job as a LSA at a special needs school. Just after he accepted the job Aldi put a notice up in their window offering the same hourly rate for a shop assistant. Great priorities.

No. Cleaners should be cheaper.

I am guessing cleaning is higher because it tends to be sporadic work - in other words, it is difficult to find enough jobs to fill 8 hours a day cleaning 5 days a week unless you work for a cleaning company in which case your wages could be lower than market because the company takes a cut.

Nursery workers get less per hour partly because they tend to have some benefits eg sick leave, paid holidays, hopefully pension built in.

the most rewarding jobs are not necessarily the best paid i'm afraid..

as senior care running a residential home bar staff wrere earning more than me just the way it is in care sector who knows why

There are some valuable front line nurses paid pittances while consulants (who you're lucky to get a sniff of) are creaming thousands, while also working for the private sector. Just another 2 years study could make over £100,000 pounds difference in salary.