The Professional Association of Nursery Nurses (PANN) gave its backing to a campaign for increased pay and status for nursery nurses in Jersey at an open forum for childcarers in St Saviour last week. Childcarers working in both education and daycare expressed worries and concerns over their low wages and the island's high cost of living.
PANN professional officer Tricia Pritchard said, 'Childcare salaries are extremely low in Jersey. The average wage for a childcarer is 7 an hour, even though housing costs and the cost of living are much higher than the UK.
'I got the message that Jersey's childcare workforce is disillusioned and I was told about many examples of colleagues leaving childcare and opting for jobs unrelated to their chosen profession but which are paying twice as much or even three times more. There were a number of nursery owners at the meeting and they reported a shortage of suitable candidates for unfulfilled vacancies.
'According to the Jersey Childcare Trust, Jersey has the largest percentage of women in full-time work in Europe. This is putting a massive burden on childcare providers. Childcare places are needed, but the staff simply aren't available. If pay and conditions don't improve, the future of childcare provision in Jersey seems bleak.'
With a standard one-bedroom flat costing upwards of 130,000, PANN's Jersey branch secretary Val Payne said she has seen an increase in the number of nursery nurses leaving the profession over the past four years to find higher-paid work.
She said, 'I know quite a few nursery nurses who have changed careers to go where the money is, because they have large mortgages and rents to pay.
'Finding replacements is very difficult and there is no supply list for when staff are sick, which leads to a very tired and stressed-out workforce which is not good for the children. We need people who are well-equipped and ready to work, but some nursery nurses are having to do two, and in extreme cases, three jobs in order to survive.'
Jersey Childcare Trust director Jane Macdonald said that it would support PANN's campaign for improved pay and conditions. She said, 'We are currently carrying out a survey on the island looking at salary levels in different settings.
'The return date for the survey is 11 February and we will then compare the results with those on the mainland and look at how to get around the problem of low salaries. Nursery nurses are poorly paid wherever they are, but because it is more expensive to live in Jersey it does cause more problems.' She added, 'Low wages are always going to be a problem until people recognise childcare as a profession.'