Low pay for employees in the early years profession is being caused by current regulations that limit the number of children each staff member can look after, according to a government report.
More great childcare: raising quality and giving parents more choice by the Deprartment for Education aims to help parents back to work, and build a stronger and more professional early years’ workforce.
The national mandatory minimum staff to child ratio in the UK for children aged under five is 1:3. However, in France, the ratio is 1:4, and in Denmark, Germany, Ireland and the Netherlands, it is 1:5. In Sweden, there is no mandatory minimum ratio.
According to the report, the staff to child ratio means that daycare centres and nurseries employ staff in numbers that force a choice between paying low wages and charging parents excessively high fees.
The report also found that the early years profession has been in a cycle of low pay since the 1970s and childcare staff in other European countries are often significantly better paid. Average annual salaries for early years staff in the UK were between £13,300 and £16,850 in 2012. In Denmark, the average salaries were between £20,350 and £32,800, while in the Netherlands they were between £22,100 and £34,400.
Elizabeth Truss, parliamentary under secretary of state for education and childcare, said: “The affordability and availability of childcare are growing concerns to many working parents, and some childcare providers are struggling in these tough economic times.
“The government is determined to ensure that the system delivers high quality at good value for children, parents and the tax-payer.”
The government will consult on more flexible rules for nurseries and childminders. It will respond to the consultation in the spring with a view to changes being introduced from September 2013.
Surely the cause of the high childcare costs is the low staff to children ratio in the UK – so more staff need to be employed for a certain number of children than in most other countries. Low pay does not cause high childcare costs.
The problem of low pay will continue even if the ratio is increased. Childcare providers are private companies and will want to increase their profit margins. The increase revenue from increased ratio will not be passed on in total to the staff. It will just increase their workload. The only thing that will change salaries is if the government brings in the Early Years Teacher and Early Years Educator roles as prescribed in the document and bring with it a national pay scale in the same way that teachers start at the beginning and progress. For part time workers they should be paid pro-rata. Simple. It is childcare providers who are keeping the wages down as it is in their interests to do so. They need to see that higher salary will attract better quality staff = better future for our children.