I am confused by the Government's approach to the subject of pay in early years, particularly in the private sector. The DfES (News, page 4, 24 July) said, 'Pay is determined locally by providers.' But a more accurate view is that pay is determined by the fees providers are able to charge in their local economy.
The DfES spokeswoman also said, 'The injection of substantial resources into childcare, especially through tax credits, helps underpin sustainable provision and decent wage levels.' How?
The only way a private provider can increase staff wages is to increase fees. The childcare tax credit was designed to make childcare accessible to a greater number of parents, not to enable private providers to put up their prices.
Many providers already see more than 60 per cent of their fee income committed to wages. Based on recent figures in a survey by Laing and Buisson, the average fee for a nursery place is 120 per week. This is likely to reflect a range of fees from less than 80 at the bottom of the scale to more than 160 at the top. Against these levels of income, average hourly pay for a nursery nurse in the poorest area (West Midlands) is 4.57, rising to 6.68 in the most affluent (Greater London). There is a huge discrepancy here - applying the same ratio of pay/fees to both ends of the scale would lead to nurseries with the lowest incomes remunerating their staff, on average, at 3.34 per hour.
Sadly, nurseries with the lowest income pay the greatest proportion of that income to staff who remain the most poorly paid in the country. The answer is not to increase the minimum wage - which demonstrates more of a commitment to raising taxes than to helping the low-paid - nor to increase childcare allowances to parents, but a carefully targeted direct Government subsidy for childcare sector workers.
Let us hear less Government 'spin' about investment in the childcare sector, and see more dialogue on how to reward low-paid staff without reducing the affordability to our low-paid parents.
