Low pay concern among 86% of workers in early years sector – survey

Low pay is a concern among the vast majority of early years professionals, according to a survey.

The survey was carried out by the Siptu union among over 1,000 early years professionals.

The survey notes improvements in the childcare sector over the past two years, mentioning Core Funding in 2022 which saw over 1 billion euro a year support an initial pay deal and reduced fees for parents.

Although the survey acknowledges increased investment in the sector, low pay, poor conditions and high levels of stress and burnout are contributing to a recruitment and retention crisis.

“Despite recent pay increases, the minimum rate of pay for an early years educator is 13.65 euro per hour, 1.15 euro below the Living Wage of 14.80 euro,” said Avril Green, chairwoman of the Early Years Union at Siptu.

“Simply put, we cannot afford to stay in our profession.”

Of the 1,315 respondents to the survey, 86% said low pay was their biggest work issue, with 68% citing pressure due to staff shortages as another major concern and 65% citing stress and burnout.

The survey suggests that 95% of early years educators can only make ends meet with “difficulty” or “great difficulty”, and for all grades of staff, including managers, 78% were unable to cope with an unexpected expense, such as replacing a washing machine.

For managers, stress and burnout was identified as their biggest work issue (73%).

Some 30% of managers surveyed said that problems recruiting and retaining staff will result in service closure – an increase of 6% since the last Early Years Professionals Survey in 2022.

30% of managers also reported that their service is at risk of closure due to the staffing crisis.

Of those surveyed, 55% worked in a private setting and 45% in a community setting. A total of 14% of respondents were based in Dublin, 11% in Cork and the rest spread across the remaining counties.

Its findings are to be presented to politicians in Leinster House on Thursday.