For Love or Money? That is the question…
6 May 2008
The problem of poverty among working people and the challenges that low-wage sectors face were the focus of the latest Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) report
The report ‘For Love or Money: Pay, Progression and Professionalisation in the Early Years Workforce’ claims that despite early years services being critical to deliver both economic prosperity and social justice in Britain, the average pay is £6.80 an hour (well below the national average of £9.88); only seven per cent of the workforce has a post secondary qualification; and 98 per cent of the workforce are women.
A series of focus groups was carried out with 53 practitioners who worked in group-based, private or voluntary settings. From this research, three key problems were identified – pay, progression and professionalisation – as standing in the way of the sector working towards higher level skills, greater quality and higher wages.
To help the sector move towards this aim, the IPPR put forward a series of reforms, two of which were, to set a date for Level 3 being the minimum qualification for early years practitioners, by 2015 at the latest; and increase the number of senior early years practitioners (at Level 5) to drive up quality and create more professional progression routes.
The report also asked practitioners to give their views about the best and worst parts of working in the early years sector. Some of the best were deemed to be, reward and recognition; longstanding desire to work with children; and strong relationships with parents. And the worst, being under paid; the increasing role of paperwork; and feeling their role had a low status in society (partly linked to gender). To read the full report visit IPPR
The National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA) agrees that pay is important in solving workforce issues. Read Chief Executive, Purnima Tanuku’s response to the report In my view.
