More than half of teachers worried about keeping up with household bills

The snapshot survey of 4,536 teachers and leaders working in state-funded schools by the National Education Union (NEU), reveals:

• 87 per cent of primary and state-funded nursery members say they are underpaid, given their skills, qualifications and workload. Just 7 per cent say their pay is ‘fair’.
• 56 per cent are either ‘very’ or ‘extremely’ worried about keeping up with household bills and finances. A further 39 per cent say they are ‘a little’ worried about meeting bills.
• Teachers and leaders in London were most likely to say they were worried about keeping up with bills.

NEU’s general secretary Daniel Kebede said, ‘This survey once again highlights the damage done by Government attacks on teacher pay since 2010.Teachers are understandably worried about their household bills, given that sky-high inflation in 2022 and 2023 has baked in significantly higher price levels. 

‘Since 2010 teachers’ pay has declined significantly, relative to other workers and in real terms against inflation. Pay levels do not properly value teachers. This creates major recruitment and retention problems. 

‘We need an urgent, properly funded and major correction in teacher pay – not only to stop teachers worrying about how to pay their bills, but also to protect our education service by fixing the recruitment and retention crisis.’