Staff shortages and rises in the National Minimum Wage (NMW) are pushing childcare sector salaries ever higher, with some nursery staff enjoying pay increases of more than 10 per cent in the past year, according to a new survey covering 388 nurseries. The rises bring the median pay range of qualified nursery nurses to 9,200-10,500, while that of managers now stands at 14,600-18,000.
The steep rises, revealed in Income Data Services' Pay in Nurseries survey published last month and mirrored in the Government's New Earnings Survey, lifts childcare work out of the ten lowest-paid occupations.
Michael Thompson, managing director of Child Base, which was included in the survey, is unsurprised by the general findings. He predicts pay rises of 7, 8 and 9 per cent in the coming year. 'The trend is set to continue,'
he says. 'The question is who pays for these rises as at the moment, it's all passed on to users.'
The IDS survey covered 140 organisations, employing 8,000 staff, with 90 per cent in the private sector and the remainder funded in whole or in part by local authorities. Private settings varied from very small nurseries to large chains employing 2,500 people, and one-third of respondents were in London and the south east.
The survey found that the median pay rise was 5 per cent. But a quarter of respondents awarded increases of 10 per cent or more - well above pay settlements generally in the rest of the economy. One of the smallest rises listed in the survey was 2.9 per cent.
In many cases, the high rises were in response to the NMW changes in October 2001, when the adult rate rose 10.8 per cent to 4.10 an hour and the youth rate rose 9.4 per cent to 3.50. Other staff salaries saw similar rises.
'To maintain a differential between our junior and more experienced staff, the rise was 10 per cent in some instances,' says Susan Mills, managing director of Nottingham-based Cherubs nursery chain,.
Just under half the respondents said that they had increased their fees as a result.
Worsening difficulties in finding staff also contributed to the high rises. Two-thirds of respondents across the country reported recruitment problems and just under half (65 respondents) said that recruitment and retention problems had worsened in the past year.
'What worries me is we're not attracting any more people into the sector, and we're struggling to hold on to those we've got,' says Michael Thompson.
Quality shortage
Worst affected by recruitment problems, perhaps surprisingly, was the north-west of England, where 18 of the 22 nursery employers reported problems. Three-quarters of the nurseries in London and the south-east also reported problems.
Hardest to recruit were qualified nursery nurses. 'Good, qualified staff are becoming extinct,' commented one respondent in south-west London. 'The Government has increased nursery places without training enough staff,'
said another in the north-east of England.
In Scotland, Dumbartonshire chain Carousel Nurseries, which was included in the survey, is finding that its 'selling point' of offering SVQ training to staff is now less attractive to potential employees because the local authority refuses to recognise SVQs in its own nurseries. 'We're finding it difficult to attract people because career paths for staff with SVQs are very limited,' says Carousel co-owner Claire Rowan. 'It's completely undervaluing everything that's happening within the private sector.'
Some nurseries reported that their recruitment problems extended to unqualified nursery assistants and ancillary staff such as nursery cooks and cleaners.
Respondents also complained of poor responses to vacancies, of poor quality applicants, and of losing some staff members to better-paid jobs in schools.
Employers were divided over how the NMW rise had affected recruitment. Some felt that the higher wages had made childcare more attractive; others felt that the 'stigma' of being a minimum-wage employer made recruitment harder.
Lowest pay
Despite the sharp rises, many nursery staff will still have little to cheer about when it comes to earnings. The very lowest rate quoted was 55 a week for a 16-year-old NVQ trainee, a wage which works out at 1.38 an hour, and six employers had lowest rates under 2.50 an hour. Typical earnings for junior trainees and those in student positions were found to be 80 a week or less.
Eighty per cent of respondents had a lowest rate of less that 4.10 (the current NMW rate), and 90 per cent had a lowest rate of under 5 an hour.
Benefits and bonuses
While the vast majority of respondents did not pay any additional allowances over basic pay, just under three-quarters provided additional benefits, most commonly free meals, a pension, uniform, subsidised or free childcare, or health insurance.
Pay progression
Pay ranges emerged as common, with around three-quarters of respondents favouring a pay range to a single rate for key jobs such as nursery nurses.
Of those, about half linked progression solely to individual performance or to a combination of individual performance, length of service and skills acquisition. However, one-third preferred to link progression to length of service or acquisition of skills, rather than to individual performance.
Annual median pay ranges, based on a 40-hour week, for each category of staff were around:
* Nursery nurses 8,500-8,900. Their median starting rate increased to 4.10 an hour (the current NMW rate for employees aged 22 and over), a rise of 10.8 per cent on IDS's previous survey.
* Nursery nurses (DCE, BTec and NVQ3 holders) 9,200-10,500. Their median starting rate of 4.43 an hour was up by 10.75 per cent on last year's survey. Rates ranged from 3.50 to 10 an hour and averaged 4.71.
* Senior nursery nurses 10,400-12,500. Their rates ranged from 4.10 to 10.
* Deputy managers 11,500-13,550.
* Managers 14,600-18,000.
New Earnings Survey
The Government's New Earnings Survey, covering a slightly earlier period than the IDS survey, found that childcarers' average earnings rose by 10.3 per cent in the year to April 2001, while nursery nurses' pay increased by 5.2 per cent over the same period. The rises put average weekly earnings at 229.20 for qualified nursery nurses and at 225.20 for workers in 'childcare and related occupations'.
Local authority pay rates
Predictably, local authority pay scales for nursery staff emerged higher than those in the private sector.
Qualified nursery nurses earn 10,233 to 12,879 for a 37-hour week, equivalent to 5.30 to 6.68 an hour (spine points 7 to 15 on the NJC pay scale). A London allowance of up to 2,646 is paid on top.
Playworkers employed by local authorities were found in a separate IDS study (Report 849) to have a median starting salary of 9,912 for a 37-hour week (spine point 6 on the NJC scale), equivalent to 5.14 an hour.
Time for change
When responding to last year's IDS survey, Leslie Beber, owner of Little Acorn Nurseries in Edinburgh, lamented the fact that staff training had not kept pace with the boom in nursery provision, resulting in an acute shortage of qualified staff. One year on she is cheered that the latest round of pay rises has raised childcare out of the ten lowest-paid occupations but feels greater change is essential.
'We need to raise the status of childcare by a whole package of reforms, and pay and benefits are just part of that. Childcare needs to be valued as a service to the community and parents and Government need to recognise the job that childcarers do. Higher salaries would mean higher fees and make childcare unaffordable to many parents, but there must be a way of the Government enhancing salaries.'
Michael Thompson agrees that raising the status of childcare is crucial. 'Until we start addressing these issues, we're going to struggle.'
FURTHER INFORMATION
* Pay in nurseries appears in IDS Report 853, March 2002, and is available for 30 as part of a trial subscription. A playworkers' pay survey appears in IDS Report 849, p10. To order, phone 020 7324 2599, fax 020: 7324 2510, e-mail sales@incomesdata.co.ukor write to Customer Services, Income Data Services, 77 Bastwick Street, London EC1V 3TT.