Are Childcare Workers 'really' Underpaid

Trying2SaveABuck on 04/06/2022 - 21:12
Last edited 04/06/2022 - 21:54 by 1 other user

So had a request for this one so I thought I'd do it - I know some people are not happy I'm posting these but to those individuals your welcome to 'scroll on' or simply ignore anything I post.

This was a little bit more 'unfair' then I thought it would be but here is what I came up with as there are three levels to this profession - those who have a certificate -> diploma -> bachelors degree

Each level of qualification requires more study/training and allows access to higher bands of salary. But to save you all time, if teachers looking after multiple students earning 100k is a 'fair' salary then early child care workers are 'criminally' underpaid IMO.

According to this source childcare workers earn depending on experience/qualification level a salary $20.61 - $30.01 - with directors hitting $33.90 an hour, however to hit this level of remuneration you must be in-charge of a centre of 60 or more children. According to this source the salary range for childcare workers is just under $41,000 - $67,000 thus putting the lowest paid childcare workers in the 25th percentile and the highest paid in the 57th percentile….

It is important to note 97 percent of childcare workers are female and only 3 percent are male.

Personally I think the highest band should be hitting at around the $95k - $100k mark for the level of responsibility if not maybe a little more - thus I feel childcare workers are criminally under-paid especially those with a fair amount of experience…. however I will leave it up to the polls once again i'll let the OZ-Bargain community decide….

Vote below and let me know

Poll Options

  • 16
    Childcare workers are Over paid
  • 41
    Childcare workers are Fairly paid
  • 351
    Childcare workers are Under paid
Education & Work

Comments

  • HairyChickens on 04/06/2022 - 21:18
    +40

    Repetitive
    /rɪˈpɛtɪtɪv/
    adjective
    containing or characterized by repetition, especially when unnecessary or tiresome.
    "This sh*t is getting repetitive"

    • El cheepo on 04/06/2022 - 21:32
      +4

      He has his bait and is still getting bites. It won’t change anytime soon.

    • SF3 on 04/06/2022 - 22:00

      The Dose Makes the Poison.

    • SlavOz on 05/06/2022 - 19:48
      -1

      Stupid
      adjective
      reading a post even though you find it repetitive

    • Minimum chips on 06/06/2022 - 00:01
      +3

      Right because we have much more interesting and fascinating topics to discuss, like traffic tickets and neighbour disputes.

      This is a waste of our massive intellects.

    • Kangal on 06/06/2022 - 20:29

      I clicked on this, just to make this comment and see if others found this to be… repetitive

      "Trying2SaveABuck" username does not check out :\

  • brendanm on 04/06/2022 - 21:20
    +7

    Underpaid. Directors have a lot to deal with. A lot. The director at my daughter's last centre was amazing, I have no idea how many hours she put in, but it would have been extremely high, and I'm sure she wasn't getting paid for it. We had above average number of male teachers there as well, 3 in the centre, who were also great.

    Childcare is not like it was "back in the day". They don't just watch kids. There is a while bunch of stuff that have to do, eylf, observations, reports etc.

    • mini2 on 05/06/2022 - 22:52
      +1

      You'd be surprised, the centre directors aren't the ones swimming in cash but the owners are.

      • brendanm on 06/06/2022 - 06:44

        Isn't that what I said?

  • FLICKIT on 04/06/2022 - 21:22
    +27

    Are OzBargain Mods 'really' underpaid

    • WreckTangle on 04/06/2022 - 21:24
      +2

      I’d like to see a poll for that

    • whatwasherproblem on 04/06/2022 - 21:26
      +3

      Janny are you okay
      Janny are you okay
      Are you okay, Janny?

    • Morphio25 on 07/06/2022 - 09:32

      Who cares tbh…

  • SydStrand on 04/06/2022 - 21:22
    +9

    Are Ozbargain shitposters 'really' underpaid? Click here, the answer might surprise you!

    • HairyChickens on 04/06/2022 - 21:25
      +2

      Eneloops Under 30 in Your Area!!!

      • prinsenhof on 07/06/2022 - 22:30

        the link is broken, can you please repost?

  • WreckTangle on 04/06/2022 - 21:22
    +2

    monotonous

    dull, tedious, and repetitious; lacking in variety and interest.
    "this sh*t is also very monotonous”

  • whatwasherproblem on 04/06/2022 - 21:25
    +19

    I'm about as childless as a SlavOz but I'll chip in and say they're probably underpaid. I know plenty of people making much much north of ~60k/yr that I wouldn't trust to go and get me a pepsi from the vending machine, much less charge with the rearing of our next generation.

    • Trying2SaveABuck on 04/06/2022 - 21:28
      +3

      I wouldn't trust to go and get me a pepsi from the vending machine, much less charge with the rearing of our next generation.

      bahaha this actually made me laugh

      • sjj89 on 05/06/2022 - 01:09
        -3

        Easy to entertain

    • TooSerious2 on 04/06/2022 - 21:31
      +5

      I believe there are issues with "rearing" children

    • SlavOz on 05/06/2022 - 19:56
      +1

      Good thing we don't pay childcare workers to rear our children. That's a parents job.

    • yokel on 06/06/2022 - 08:28

      Where can you find a vending machine with Pepsi in this country?

  • boomramada on 04/06/2022 - 21:31
    +1

    How do you increase the wages of child care workers? Increase the minimum wages? As most of them are private establishment.

    • Trying2SaveABuck on 04/06/2022 - 21:33
      +3

      just like anything they need form a union that lobbies the government employer to push for better conditions/wages

      even though a lot of childcare centers are privately owned they mostly all get some kind of 'public' funding/subsides

      • boomramada on 04/06/2022 - 21:56
        +4

        They do get funding, goes to owners pocket most of the time.

        • sjj89 on 05/06/2022 - 01:11
          +5

          It’s the same as privately operated NDIS providers.
          And similar to private schools.

          Private organisations sucking the government teat, and using that to pay executives and shareholders

      • morse on 05/06/2022 - 07:12
        +1

        I agree they need to campaign for a award and wages.

        I would say though one problem in the industry is that the workers only need to be ‘enrolled’ in a certificate or diploma to count in the quota. At my child’s last centre there were people who were ‘enrolled’ for years for courses that could have been done in a much shorter time period. Most of them, whilst lovely didn’t have amazing English skills and I wondered if that was a barrier to them finishing the courses. Many of the companies that run child care centres also run education businesses selling the courses. You can’t really expect to be paid much if you haven’t even finished the minimum qualification. Just like how apprentice tradies or hairdressers don’t get paid much.

        So I think they need to up the pay but also the standard with a transition period to get the the educators qualified. I think the minority of workers at the centres should be still ‘enrolled’ and their should be a minimum number of degree qualified staff (most who this degree get taken by primary schools).

        • boomramada on 05/06/2022 - 08:37
          -1

          The thing is when you increase the minimum wages it has flow on affect hence gap remain the same.

          Also I know people with degrees in electrical engineering working as child care worker as its easy to get a job. Which saying that it's a high demand job and easy to up skill to become one.

          This is a complex issue, if they are under paid. Qantas baggage handler or Sydney train driver who get closer to 100k, for them they are under paid too. So is the surgeon who earn 300k.

          • morse on 05/06/2022 - 09:01

            @boomramada:

            Also I know people with degrees in electrical engineering working as child care worker as its easy to get a job.

            That’s exactly the issue. Whilst electrical engineering is awesome, the people should have the right qualifications for the job. There’s shouldn’t be people working for years just ‘enrolled’ in the certificate. The standard needs to be improved.

            • boomramada on 07/06/2022 - 10:57

              @morse: As people above mentioned, adding union, fully qualified educator etc only going to drive up the price, so you be spending $500 per day, for some it be cheaper to stay home than going to work.

              Unions doesn't magically increase the pay, hence there be strikes.
              Fully qualified educators don't come cheap.
              Government not magically going to increase the child care subsidy (increase in one going to cut back on somewhere else)

              Maybe we are expecting too much from the current system.

              Issue I'm noticing, even with the not so good pay, there are lack of them or too hard to find them.

              Same applicable for teachers and nurses, there are so many school or hospital operate under not enough of them, too had to find them. Maybe its not good pay not many people going for such a job or simply not enough of them.

        • corollachick on 05/06/2022 - 09:06

          50% of your educators need to be diploma qualified. the number of teachers needed depends on the size of the service.

          you aren't counted if you're simply enrolled in your study, you have to be a certain way through your course and actively studying. :)

          • morse on 05/06/2022 - 09:26

            @corollachick: Seems like some centres are exploiting this. Literally most of the educators are our last centre we’re enrolled (said so on their profiles) and had been working there for 5-10years. Must be hitting that ‘certain way through’ criteria.

  • Godric on 04/06/2022 - 21:42

    So had a request for this one so I thought i'd do it

    Proof?

    • Trying2SaveABuck on 05/06/2022 - 13:28
      -3

      file:///C:/Users/dpgru/OneDrive/Desktop/proof.png

      try copy and past that into your url i think that works. - if it doesnt let me know

    • cookie2 on 06/06/2022 - 20:11
      -1

      Wth would proof be needed? Doesn't really matter why it was posted. People are interested enough that it got to the front page.

  • solidussnake on 04/06/2022 - 21:47

    Should be trying2spam4abuck

  • djones145 on 04/06/2022 - 22:49
    -1

    WTF dude

    this is for you mspaint

  • Oofy Doofy on 04/06/2022 - 23:05

    They are, but the big issue is with the added wage burden being passed on to parents with the cost of childcare. The same problem is happening in aged care.

    • sjj89 on 05/06/2022 - 01:13
      +8

      Both should be publicly funded no different to K-12 education

  • randomusername2017 on 04/06/2022 - 23:24

    Hard to consider anyone being underpaid in comparison to the magnitude of Slavs voluntary contribution to humanity

    Maybe it's about time they monetized the platform.. mugs, t-shirts, dart boards..

    • Trying2SaveABuck on 04/06/2022 - 23:52
      +1

      i agree with a lot of things you comment on here but this isnt one of them.

      'low skilled' or low level childcare workers probably deserve a lower award but i reckon being a director of an entire center managing staff and kids if surely worth a decent wicket i mean at least 40 an hour ie 80k pa

      if you manage a McDonalds you make over 70-80k

      • lew380 on 06/06/2022 - 09:33

        The problem is also that the clientel is parents, they already fork out a lot of money for childcare, increasing the wages of childcare workers mean parents need to pay more. The workers get payed minimally, but they also get to spend time with children, that has value beyond what goes into their pockets, i know people who would volunteer to look after childen, the salary is a bonus. If you want to socialise childcare, then go live in Venezuela.

    • superroach on 05/06/2022 - 00:48
      +2

      The burn out rate isn't sustainable, I feel similar to teaching it's been "optimised" that there is enough new people coming in to cover holes from people burning out and going to a job that is less stressful and more appreciative and better paying. Whenever there are surges, the fine balance is upset and it gets clear how much the field is taking advantage of itself.

      I don't know of any managers who stay in the position more than 3 years, and many last 1 year tops.

    • Dlw on 05/06/2022 - 08:47
      +2

      There’s actually a massive staff shortage nationally so I don’t think someone will just ‘step in’.

  • 87percent on 05/06/2022 - 08:20

    Who requests for a poll about workers being underpaid?!?

    • Nugs on 05/06/2022 - 09:49

      Underpaid workers
      .

  • Dlw on 05/06/2022 - 08:58
    +10

    Sadly, a lot of people do not value the importance of education in the early years and see it merely as babysitting. Even the term ‘childcare’ is being phased out. I know people that work in the profession and they’re there supporting the learning of a myriad of individual needs. They’re planning, implementing and documenting learning everyday, on top of a lot of other things like managing families and they’re expectations and the growing amount of compliance and paperwork.

    • kanmen on 05/06/2022 - 13:38
      +3

      Agreed. They are Early Childhood Educators and Carers, not Childcare workers. People think they sit around playing with babies all day. They don't, they are responsible for one some of the most fundamental years in a child's life as far as education is concerned.

    • GourmetFoodie on 06/06/2022 - 21:26

      I hear this but I don’t believe it.
      With the staff to student ratios it’s pretty hard to offer any substantial real learning or teaching. Maybe in the older years 3/4 year olds there is more of a chance but even then, it’s not material.

      • Dlw on 07/06/2022 - 01:39

        How so? Children learn through play, whether this is with a group of peers, from conversations/discussions with an educator or through an educator led group experience with peers. Children are constantly learning.

        • GourmetFoodie on 07/06/2022 - 09:02
          -1

          Yes but that’s my point.
          Childcare workers ARE pretty much babysitting and the kids are just playing. It’s not like the children are learning to count to 100 or read and write.

          If we really cared about the early years we would not be outsourcing child rearing to relatively untrained (and hence low paid) workers.

          Instead we’d be expecting every childcare worker to have a graduate degree from a leading university and there would be a rigid government mandated curriculum with much higher expected educational outcomes.

      • corollachick on 07/06/2022 - 14:45

        @gormetfoodie under 2, 1 educator to 4 kids
        under 3, 1 educator to 5 kids
        over 3, 1 educator to 10 or 11 kids (depending on state)

        school classrooms…. 1 teacher to 28 kids???
        by your rationale schools ratio of staff to students would be hard to offer any substantial real learning…

  • rmh876 on 05/06/2022 - 09:21
    +1

    Are families taking their children to daycare willing to pay more to pay for childcare workers? Government already subsidise, if it’s free how much more are we willing to pay in tax?

  • rmh876 on 05/06/2022 - 09:23
    +4

    Option 3: HECS style debt for the newborns and pre-schoolers 🤣

    • Mugsy on 05/06/2022 - 09:48

      The term 'cost of living' will be that bit more literal.

  • Mugsy on 05/06/2022 - 09:40
    +6

    My wife works in early learning education and has considered trying for a second in charge position. But everytime we look at the extra income she'd get vs the extra stress and work hours she'd be subjected to, it's simply not worth it. In comparison, I earn more than centre managers/directors in childcare and I'm a mid level analyst who is under a lot less stress!

    Simply put, the current system doesn't work and you can blame the Libs at the Federal level for making it this way:

    • national early learning curriculum keeps demanding more from the sector putting greater stress on the staff (many of whom got into the sector at a time when they didn't need to have higher quals or skillsets and require them to analyse a child's development)
    • as a business, they can only charge as much as it makes sense for parents to pay before they choose to not work and be full time stay at home parents
    • to make the maths work out, they just pay the staff less (someone's gotta lose out at the end of the day)
    • coupled with how the sector has been treated during covid, it's not surprising that less people are wanting to get into the industry and more staff are getting burnt out and leaving

    FWIW, my thoughts is that the government needs to rethink their national curriculum to be less paper work for educator and they need to subsidise more. Our taxes needs to be spent less elsewhere and more into childcare… it serves two purposes… training kids to start developing critical thinking and basic skills from an early age and also minding the children so that parents who have jobs that create greater economic value can do that job.

    • wlqrichard on 05/06/2022 - 11:25
      +1

      national early learning curriculum keeps demanding more from the sector putting greater stress on the staff (many of whom got into the sector at a time when they didn't need to have higher quals or skillsets and require them to analyse a child's development)

      Agree with this, specifically when you get ask to do more paperwork each year while having the same amount time to get off the floor like 10 years ago.

      • Mugsy on 05/06/2022 - 20:30
        +2

        My wife was a room leader in the past and took more paperwork home than I did. FWIW, she did want to do right by the children and parents and give them useful feedback in her paperwork but she quite often had her time off the floor cut down due to needing more staff on the floor. Their priority is to keep the kids safe first and foremost.

        I suspect the national curriculum was implemented by some bureaucrat who has no practical experience as a childcare educator… or expected educators to do a half arsed job filling in the paperwork.

  • Bad Wolf on 05/06/2022 - 11:30

    A relative works as a room leader has a degree.
    Her pays $42 /hours way above the “minimums” the article was quoting.

    As long as there’s no change in management, her jobs stress free, no unpaid overtime, nothing to take home as there’s time off the floor for paperwork.

    It did take a few changes in job to find the one that’s the right fit for her, but that’s something everyone should be doing.

    Do I think childcare workers are underpaid. A 12 month certificate gets you into a field with vacancy’s and a job on $25/hour. The company’s seem more then happy to have part time workers to look after their own kids or study.

    Should they be paid more. Every employee should have a higher minimum education of a teaching degree and eliminate the $20-$30 hour under qualified band of workers. You want young kids to be educated not have baby sitters.

    • kanmen on 05/06/2022 - 13:39

      If she's a room leader with a degree, is she a Kindergarten Teacher?

      • Bad Wolf on 05/06/2022 - 14:18

        She works at an early education facility.
        6 weeks and up.
        Room leader was how she described it when we were talking about what her job actual entailed, how many kids she looked after, lesson plans, how many staff/ kids at the place etc.

        • kanmen on 05/06/2022 - 15:12

          lol there are kindergarten teachers and classes at most ECE centres, especially if they educate children up to the age of 5 ie. pre-primary!

    • theleech on 06/06/2022 - 16:31
      +1

      She'd likely be an Early Childhood Teacher, not just a normal childcare worker. They have their Bachelors, and are paid as teachers. Most childcare centers afaik will only have 1 on staff.

  • Lastchancetosee on 05/06/2022 - 12:08
    +1

    Yes, they are.

    One group that is invisible and underpaid is the sterilisation assistants in hospitals. They are not considered 'essential workers', in spite of the fact that every intervention you have is made safe by their work, which is provided 24/7. They need to ensure all protocols are followed, chase up missing instruments from surgical trays (more often than you'd care to know), and test all equipment each time, sending it off for repair if needed.

    Through historical anomalies, they are classified in the same group as gardeners, cooking staff, and cleaners. While the latter are also vital services in hospitals, they do not require the same level of expertise and ongoing training as new surgical equipment and techniques come into use.

    Reclassification as essential workers, and commensurate pay would acknowledge their role in health and safety in our hospitals.

    • SydStrand on 05/06/2022 - 14:40

      OP's next thread in 3….2…

  • ozbjunkie on 05/06/2022 - 14:26
    +2

    You know you can probably wrote a bot to generate these posts.

    But would that bot be appropriately paid…

    • Trying2SaveABuck on 05/06/2022 - 15:24
      -1

      so what im getting from this is Trying2SaveAbuck can you post a forum about Are bots 'really' under paid

  • SlavOz on 05/06/2022 - 19:59
    -7

    Childcare workers are burger flippers for the supervision industry. They get paid to do something purely because those that want it done do not have time to do it themselves. Children would be much better of if raised by their own parents, however this is not possible in our current climate so we take a sacrifice on the quality for the sake of convenience.

    They are not experts with an exclusive skillset which we rely on. They are disposable. In recent years, childcare centres have expanded their service to include learning and other activities, but ultimately the main reason people pay them is to outsource the most time consuming part of having sex.

    Ozbargain meltdown in 3, 2, …

    • MessyG on 05/06/2022 - 22:18
      -2

      Ozbargain collective yawn in 3, 2…

  • stunspore on 05/06/2022 - 20:28
    -1

    A good start in deciding pay rates … how long should payback of a certification course taken?
    Especially from Cert I to IV in child care and to related degree.
    Also - the duration and cost of upskilling/upgrading your cert, just to receive maybe $1 or 2 per hour pay rise? How long the payback? Also need to consider before and after tax implications.

    • MessyG on 05/06/2022 - 22:20
      +1

      Why is this tied to certification. There many other careers out there that don't require a formal tertiary education that are paid a lot. Doing this just seems like an excuse to keep wages low.

      These people are responsible for our next generations lives every day of the week. The fact that this has been entirely undervalued until is mildly frightening.

    • jellykingdom on 06/06/2022 - 08:44

      I kind of agree with you. I think our daycare is fantastic and the people are great, but it's hard to even consider how you could pay them $100k like the OP suggested. Most of them barely have a qualification at all, definitely nothing above Cert IV. I mean, where do you draw the line then?

  • dlakers3peat on 05/06/2022 - 21:07

    They are definitely underpaid. I know a few people who privately own childcare centres and they are rich. I am not talking middle class rich. I mean rich rich. So they are profiting most of money and the poor workers get the crumbs.

    • SlavOz on 05/06/2022 - 22:49
      +2

      If you want to increase childcare wages, get the government out of the business. Make it a free market. So the most productive/efficient workers are in demand. Daycare centres can't just hire anyone to sit around and watch the kids. They'll need to attract the most talented and successful workers with better pay.

      It also gives the workers more bargaining power in negotiating their salaries.

    • mini2 on 05/06/2022 - 22:53

      Did they also tell you how much the fitout of the centre cost, insurance, compliance BS etc? Most modern centres cost 7 figures to fitout.

      • ChickenTalon on 06/06/2022 - 18:52

        They’re still filthy rich. I know a couple of owners and they’re absolutely loaded, both of them are in the midddle of very expensive renovations to their houses.

        I’ve also seen the financials of a medium sized one, good attendance but not at capacity. They make an absolute killing.

  • [Deactivated] on 05/06/2022 - 22:16
    +1

    Pay child care workers more. Pay less for childcare. Pick one.

    • MessyG on 05/06/2022 - 22:21
      +1

      No. Reinvest the profits that operators make back into the business, in the form of appropriate wages. As we've seen, profits can rise exponentially while wages stagnate. No one is believing that argument anymore.

      • [Deactivated] on 05/06/2022 - 22:34
        +1

        Do you really think private operators will just decide to make less money without passing on those costs? The only way that happens is if government takes over. Then we're still paying more for it, whether we use childcare or not.

        Regardless of any moral argument of what you think people should be paid more for, it really comes down to supply and demand. Where there are many people willing to do an easy job, wages are low. Where there are fewer people, or there are barriers to entry like education, skills, danger, time commitment, or difficulty, that make it less desirable, wages are higher.

        • Trying2SaveABuck on 05/06/2022 - 22:55
          +1

          Do you really think private operators will just decide to make less money without passing on those costs? The only way that happens is if government takes over. Then we're still paying more for it, whether we use childcare or not.

          No, but if they are in some part publicly funded the government can force them otherwise have the risk of there public funding withdrawn…i dare say very few childcare centers could survive without public funding thus they would be treated like a public organization.

          the other option is have full public and private childcare centers like you have with schools in which there are no fees for the public centers and fees for the private ones - with the perception the private operators provide a better quality experience

  • cashless on 05/06/2022 - 23:10
    -1

    Zzzzzz

  • yokel on 06/06/2022 - 08:32

    There is a big shortage right now. It has worked out well for some Ladies who sat out the pandemic and have been able to find a position instantly. The pay is disgracefully low. For those who are whinging about the way the centres are run, yeah it’s hard right now to get Kid enrolled with waiting lists in most areas.

  • WhatWouldBiggieDo on 06/06/2022 - 09:01
    +1

    All of the other examples were a bit 'meh' (and my wife is a Nurse and sister a teacher so I have a vested interest). However, I think, and have always thought since having kids, that daycare teachers are criminally underpaid. They earn less than many retail/hospo workers and have far more responsibility and the hassle of dealing with other peoples' snotty-nosed kids. I would happily pay more for daycare if i knew it was going straight in to wages.

    • Trying2SaveABuck on 06/06/2022 - 09:02

      I would happily pay more for daycare if i knew it was going straight in to wages.

      thats the 'key' isn't it if it went to the workers and not some CEO pocket

  • AustriaBargain on 06/06/2022 - 09:47

    Most childcare places have huge waiting lists to enrol, so according to supply and demand they are probably underpaid. If you want more childcare workers and want them to be qualified, as in you want decent people to pay to devote years of their life to study of childcare, then you have to offer more money. Also not all the money you pay goes to the workers, I'm sure liability insurance is not cheap when it comes to basically entrusting little kids to strangers.

  • istoleyourid2 on 06/06/2022 - 10:51
    +3

    Agree they are underpaid, my wife worked in the industry for a while and left partly because of this. But its the nature of the business, you can't expect to come close to earning $100K year flipping burgers at maccas unless you are the franchise owner or the regional manager. Child care industry is no different, even with the required qualifications and responsibility.

    The problem as i see it, child care is an underclass industry that relies on churning through burnt out staff like fast food. If the average worker needs someone to raise or take care of their kids while they are at work, they HAVE to pay significantly less than what they earn or there is no point in working. If you broadly increase child care worker salaries, the prices go up and there will be a rise in stay at home parents because its more efficient to not work and not pay for childcare. Or taxes go up if you subsidize instead and bye bye next election.

    So instead, if you are in that industry primarily you get 3x paths, stay the course and be paid minimum wage for a high stress role with little room for growth, double down and further your education to become a primary school teacher or chuck it in and make as much if not more money stocking shelves at woolies without the quals, responsibility and stress. You could become a franchisee or open a child care business but that's not exactly achievable for most.

    I'm not advocating for anything, I have no idea how to fix it, this is just my observation.

    • idonotknowwhy on 07/06/2022 - 16:43

      my wife worked in the industry for a while and left partly because of this

      I'm seeing this a lot with people in the industry. How long ago did she leave?

      I have no idea how to fix it

      Same here. 0-4 are the arguably the most important years which shape the person you'll become.
      They're also very important years to look out for anything where intervention is needed, while the brain plasticity is so high.
      I have no idea how to fix it either. Maybe the return on investment (emotionally stable, motivated, resilient people working in Australia) is too far away.

  • Dack Smith on 06/06/2022 - 11:26

    Would you like educated and happy and skilled childcare workers to look after your kids?

    Or see if you can attract the best with a pittance of a wage and trust them to happily look after your vulnerable kiddies?

    It’s hypocritical and plain stupid to think childcare workers are overpaid. But then there’s many people with the IQ of a cockroach so I wouldn’t be surprised.

  • whitepuma on 06/06/2022 - 11:39

    As someone that had a short stint of working in the headoffice of an early learning franchise…i can say this

    Are childcare workers underpaid based on the work and hours they do? yes
    Are childcare workers underpaid based on how many there are and how easy they are to replace? no
    Are childcare workers underpaid based on how much the end customer is willing to pay for the childcare services WHILST the business still remains profitable? no

  • psylence on 06/06/2022 - 13:26

    They are underpaid, if we accept that we also need to accept higher childcare costs. If we want to give them 30% more you need to accept your childcare is going to cost 25% more.

    • Trying2SaveABuck on 06/06/2022 - 14:52
      -1

      of course despite - the stupidity of 'socialist' wanting everything for free in a world where there is no 'free lunch' if you spend a dollar here you either have to save it, borrow it or take from somewhere else.

      most of the time costs are past on to tax payers/consumers - the big thing right now it 'energy costs' and although im all for renewable and Green energy it will come at a cost - in which energy will get 'way' more expensive the more we move away from FF this is common sense as you have gone from a 'cheap' reliable source to an infrastructure expensive, unreliable energy source.

      The issue is no one in the media reports both sides of the story it is just 'sensationalism' to crap journalism thus the wider public have no idea wat the actually facts/costs are

    • GourmetFoodie on 06/06/2022 - 21:20

      Exactly.
      Yet people who use childcare already complain about fees….

      Personally, I don’t use childcare because as the saying goes “pay peanuts, get monkeys”.

  • ajr5k on 06/06/2022 - 16:31
    +1

    It is important to note 97 percent of childcare workers are female and only 3 percent are male.

    Why is this important exactly?

    • cookie2 on 06/06/2022 - 20:18

      Because if you agree they're paid too little, it's worth also considering how this affects the pay gap in Australia between men and women.

      • whitepuma on 07/06/2022 - 08:19

        I thought the paygap argument is only valid for like to like roles?

        i.e., comparing the 97% female childcare workers average salary with the 3% male childcare workers average salary.

        • ajr5k on 07/06/2022 - 09:14

          You’ll upset the pay gap grifters if you keep dropping logic like that

  • tcme on 06/06/2022 - 16:51

    I'm getting really sick of seeing these posts. You're paid what the market says you're worth are you not?

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