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Pay 'is not the answer'

Childcare organisations have reacted with anger to a report by the Children's Workforce Development Council (CWDC) that says that increased rates of pay are not key to improving recruitment and retention. The report, which explores the impact of the total rewards package on recruitment and retention in the children's workforce, identifies pay as a prime issue for many workers. However, it cautions that pay and rewards are often 'not the determining factors in the retention of workers', as job satisfaction can help overshadow lower levels of pay.

The report, which explores the impact of the total rewards package on recruitment and retention in the children's workforce, identifies pay as a prime issue for many workers. However, it cautions that pay and rewards are often 'not the determining factors in the retention of workers', as job satisfaction can help overshadow lower levels of pay.

Organisations that have campaigned for higher wages for childcare workers expressed fears that the report could give the Government an 'opt-out'

clause when it reviewed spending.

Jon Richards, senior national officer at Unison's education workforce unit, said, 'We agree with the recommendations made in the report. But we think we have a responsibility to the original Children's Workforce Strategy, where every response iden- tified pay as an issue, to ensure that pay is top of the agenda in the run-up to the 2007 Comprehensive Spending Review.

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