Teaching assistants: how do you survive?

[Runaround50]

Calling all teaching assistants up and down the country.
How do you manage financially? Do you claim UC to make ends meet? Rely on partner/ husband to pay mortgage/ rent/ bills?

I've been a TA for 3 years and just cannot survive on the money.

Needless to say, I'm looking for a higher paid role in earnest.

As an HLTA I was on £11 something per hour, TA £9 something.

Same here and 08.30 to 15.30 in the primary schools so it doesn't fit around schools children as one would have hoped.

The ones i know (3 of them) all say they are overworked and stressed, so i definitely dont think its an easy job. As a PP said, they definitely feel undervalued.

I was the same as you I did midday meals too and still couldn't manage, I had to change to a different job, became a childminder so could be home if needed. X

Government needs to do something about this

The government don’t care. They think TAs are superfluous.

https://amp.theguardian.com/politics/2022/jul/14/an-education-in-privilege-for-tory-leadership-hopefuls

I freelance on the side, that's how. During the months when I get no freelance work I always look at my bank account and think wth is this 😆And I work with SEN students so very challenging role, it is shameful how little it is paid. I know people will say just get a better paid job and I am planning on it, but if we all did that who would support these students who really need support?

I don't qualify to get any sort of UC top up as I don't have kids.

The issue is the hours - very few people can afford to work so little. Even if the hourly rate increased by a few pounds, I wonder how much you would actually see a month more as you would end up paying deductions and losing benefits. Plus by the time it's spread over the year it will be so diluted.

It would be good if TAs could extend their hours by helping with wraparound care and holiday clubs. But perhaps that doesn't suit if you take the job for the hours.

I was a TA many years ago and held a separate job in an afterschool/ holiday club - that's how i got by.

Wow these comments are reassuring, I’m qualified as a level 2 TA and I’m about to start my job, literally have nothing else to fall back on apart from a creative media qualification lmao

I got a better paid job elsewhere. I didn't mind a relatively low wage, but it was reduced to an unsustainable level (sweeping change at my school) so I left.

They earn more with a level 3 qualification or a degree

I have both a degree and a level 3 but job paid at level 2...
I would need to apply to a different school to get more and the quick walk to work very convenient!