Minister for children Margaret Hodge faced a grilling from early years and childcare delegates last week who demanded higher pay to combat the problem of staff retention and recruitment.
During a question and answer session with Mrs Hodge at the Council for Awards in Childcare and Education seminar 'Assessment Matters' in London, Dr Ken Boston, chief executive of the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, suggested that the reason for the high turnover of staff who leave the early years sector in their thirties was a lack of career structure. But this was disputed by a delegate, who received loud applause for asserting that low pay was the real issue to be addressed.
In response, Mrs Hodge acknowledged that while the Government had achieved much in increasing salaries for teachers, this was not the case for the early years workforce. She said, 'I'm really conscious of it. You only get what you pay for', and added, 'I think if we're really to value the early years sector we have to reflect it in pay.'
Mrs Hodge then pointed to the Treasury's announcement earlier this month that it is to consider childcare as one of the three key areas in the next spending review as an 'indication' of the importance the Government attached to this issue.
A recent member survey by the National Day Nurseries Association found the average salary of a nursery nurse to be 10,000 to 12,000, although some nursery staff earn as little as 7,000 a year. According to the National Childminding Association, childminders in London earn 3 to 5 an hour per child, while the average childminder in England earns less than 2.50 an hour. A survey carried out for the Daycare Trust and published earlier this year said that just over 44 per cent of nursery workers were qualified to NVQ level 3 and above, earning an average gross wage of 5.48 an hour.
Daycare Trust director Stephen Burke said, 'Pay is one of the big issues facing recruitment and retention of staff in childcare. Part and parcel of this is raising the status of the whole childcare and early years sector. In doing that we will raise the value of staff and pay accordingly.'
A spokeswoman for the Department for Education and Skills said, 'The DfES recognises that pay is an important issue for this sector. Low pay can be a barrier to recruitment, while upward pay pressures affect the affordability of childcare for parents.
'Pay for childcare workers is determined locally by providers, not set by the Government. However, a range of Government policies do have some effect - the injection of substantial resources into childcare, especially through tax credits, helps underpin sustainable provision and decent wage levels. Also, funding training and developing progression routes, for example the early years foundation degree, allow people to develop and move onwards and upwards within a broad childcare profession.'
The spokeswoman also stressed the Government's 'unprecedented expansion of early education and childcare', including more than 500 Sure Start local programmes and the first 32 of its 'flagship' children's centres. She said that last year's spending review 'provided substantial new resources to build on this strong base of provision and transform early years and childcare services' and that the Sure Start budget would 'rise steadily' to 1.5bn in 2006 and include 'a more than doubling in childcare spending over the three-year period'.
'This will vastly improve access, affordability and quality, and build the foundations of an infrastructure for the future,' the spokeswoman added.