Why are we treated/paid as glorified babysitters or less?

[Kiddi]

this is one that opens the age old question and I am sure It will upset many too.
It is an accepted fact that many parents who quite verbally want the best for their children? then find it acceptable to pay you late, or not at all, treat you with less respect than beautician, gym instructor, cleaner and pay you less!
I am not sure this is coming across right but I am sure their are many childminders who understand where I am coming from.
This is not just a rant I am actually trying to work out if it is a pay thing, a fact you work from home, or a qualification thing?
i am thinking of surveying my parents to see what level qualifications they have, and what 'status' job they have, and If they will tell me if they earn above or below, or well above minumum wage?
i am doing my studies at the mo, and just realising again that many parents often feel that a nursery is better quality care than minding, but more expensive. or that they do not realise that often a nursery may have many low level staff doing the childcare and the high level staff doing paperwork/business/managment etc.
Its just something I am curious about and I welcome any views, however extreme either way.

please dont tell me to "think again". thanks very much.

Hi, to stick my oar in, I would say that as a SAHM I see lots of CM at pick up and drop off and (preparing herself to be shouted at)they have 4-5 children in tow I wouldn't pay the same as I pay a babysitter because the CM is splitting her time bewteen the children and they are not getting one to one care. Now if there was a CM in our village that had 1-2 children I would be prepared to pay more as I would feel that my child was getting more attention.
I don't think anyone in any job should be prepared to accept late payment or rude clients.
Also the other experience I have with a childminder is one of the girls at pickup at school who thinks it is great that she can get paid for watching telly. the kids (5 of them) run wild. and to quote "according to my course as long as I can hear them and they are ok that is all I have to do!" - she isn't a great advert and I am aware that there are some brilliant cm's

No juuule, if we earn over the thresh holds then we pay tax and NI just like everybody else does.

Maybe it was when calculating some benefits or something. I'm sure I was told only a third was counted as income for something. I'll shut up now as I'm obviously confused. Will have to check what it was.

The OP asked for honest responses:
I don't think there's any excuse for late payment - that's just bad manners.
While CMs may seem underpaid, the fact is, they need to charge what is sustainable in the market place. A lot of parents, if charged £5 per hour per child would not afford to be able to go to work. Therefore they would give up. Therefore they would not need CMs. Therefore the CMs would be able to charge even less. It's simple market forces.
I can see where Nailpolish is coming from , even though some people find her views harsh. Many CMs (in fact all the ones I know) choose to do it precisely because it suits their circumstances at that particular time. They often have a young child of their own, they want to be able to stay at home - and let's face it, what other jobs can you do from home without having to pay for childcare??!!
Remember, those of us using CMs are paying out of taxed income.I know for a fact when I used a CM, what with my DC and her other mindees, she had more take home pay than I did, and I was in a job which required a degree and years of training.
IMO most CMs are fantastic and worth their weight in gold. But I also think most of them are pretty happy with the choice they've made and how theyre treated.

It is a tricky subject. I am a SAHM, and I have seen both good and bad CMs around the bazaars. Some of the good ones I am in awe of and think they are worth their wight in gold, others I have seen, spend a lot of time smoking outside school waiting for their charges, or spending the morning in our local cafe with the kids int he high chair. But I am also amazed at the place where I live, where people will cough up £10 an hour for a cleaner, but begrudge the cm under half of that. It's a rum old world...

But you don't have to pay out of taxed income now inthegutter. You can use salary sacrifice schemes or vouches, which reduces your own tax burden.

Really? Gosh things def have moved on since i used a CM. About time too - I always thought it was very unreasonable that paying for childcare (which is after all essential to be able to work) was not tax deductible.