Are Childcare Workers 'really' Underpaid

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

Comments

  • -2

    Yes, they 'really' are.

    How many directors/gms do you know in another industry making $33 an hour. None I hope.

  • If childcare workers were paid what they deserve, no one would put their kids in childcare because the fees would be so insane and the government simply could not subsidize it any further. People already moan about the fees.

  • Childcare workers are severely underpaid in my opinion.

    The wife is a childcare worker and if she worked full time hours as a couple we'd earn around the $115-120K/yr mark.

    The problem is that if they were to be paid more the fees would have to go up and that'd make childcare unaffordable for a lot of families.

  • People are making a damn fortune in childcare, but unfortunately it's not the workers.

  • +1

    There should be a higher education level and a higher pay.

  • Yes they are underpaid.
    Like any employee, the boss makes the most.
    That's why when an employee leaves and/or at Christmas time, it's nice to give a thoughtful gift to show your appreciation for their hard work.
    My sister bought hampers for all 8 of the staff looking after her two kids at day care.
    They were thrilled at Christmas time.

  • Too much red tape sending costs high and keeping wages low. Back in my day my parents would just chuck me over the fence into the neighbours backyard and quickly drive off to work. Childcare sorted.

    Now parents want reports, video footage of paper cuts, breakdowns of what the kids have been eating like its masterchef. Gone are the days of mysteriously having 30 empty bottles of clag in the bin when nobody was gluing anything.

  • The figures being quoted are minimum wages set by law under the Children's Services Modern Award. Not all childcare workers get paid at the bare minimum.

    https://awardviewer.fwo.gov.au/award/show/MA000120

    A good childcare centre will recognise the value of their staff and may choose to offer wages that exceed the Modern Award. The Modern Award is designed to protect the staff working at the other childcare centres from getting paid too low.

Login or Join to leave a comment