Default Style Register
Daycare.com Forum
Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>Childcare Workers Make Less Than Janitors
Michael 08:44 AM 11-06-2015
Interesting article from Market Watch. http://www.marketwatch.com/story/the...ry_latest_news
Reply
MarinaVanessa 09:13 AM 11-06-2015
Very interesting. Thanks for the share. Kind of curious what the numbers would be if they split the info further to show what the average for each type is ... family child care, center workers, nannies.
Reply
Controlled Chaos 09:16 AM 11-06-2015
Those numbers are why I don't work in a center!
Reply
mommyneedsadayoff 09:26 AM 11-06-2015
I work in a state with very low unemployment and jobs are everywhere. Companies are offering huge sign on bonuses to get help. Three of the main daycare centers need help desperately and are hiring at about $10 an hour. I have seen numerous janitorial jobs listed as well. At over $15 an hour, plus benefits! And they have guaranteed hours, so it is not just 20 hours a week or something. And they wonder why turnover is so high in childcare?
Reply
Fiddlesticks 09:45 AM 11-06-2015
Originally Posted by Controlled Chaos:
Those numbers are why I don't work in a center!
Exactly. I have been a preschool teacher in a center, and an elementary school teacher, and my income as a home daycare provider surpasses both of those. Combined.
Reply
daycarediva 11:28 AM 11-06-2015
Originally Posted by Controlled Chaos:
Those numbers are why I don't work in a center!
YUP!

A daycare parent sent me a picture of a local preschool offer half off childcare for 3 months to get kids in the door.

Dcm said:

Half off brain surgery? NO WAY
Half off child care? YAY

Why do people think that their children deserve less? People with less pay often have less education, less experience and less patience. It's insanity.
Reply
Controlled Chaos 12:08 PM 11-06-2015
Originally Posted by Fiddlesticks:
Exactly. I have been a preschool teacher in a center, and an elementary school teacher, and my income as a home daycare provider surpasses both of those. Combined.
Yep I make twice now what I made in a center. And I make substantially more than I did as a middle school teacher. Its crazy!
Reply
Silly Songs 02:30 PM 11-06-2015
Comments in that article are interesting .
Reply
Febby 04:22 PM 11-06-2015
I would actually make more working in fast food here than I would in child care. Fast food wouldn't offer the same benefits and I hate working it so I haven't done the math, but I doubt the added benefits outweigh the additional pay.

I actually don't work in the same city I live in. I drive to a larger city (about an hour away) to work. The difference in pay is about $2/hour, plus my center is nicer overall than any of the centers in my city.

The system sucks.
Reply
Nisaryn 07:55 PM 11-06-2015
I make much less now than I did as a teacher...but I have an MA degree so I made more money from the get-go than the other teachers I worked with. Plus at that time I was in TN so it was much better for living versus were I am now in CA. When I worked at a center I made $13hr starting out and the cutoff they said would be $18 but after I had my son I couldn't find care....if I charged $13hr as home daycare NO ONE would come to me so I still make less than I did as either a teacher or center worker. I decided on infant only so I can only take 3 kids and even if I wasn't doing infant only I can only have 6 kids tops because of military housing rules and military housing doesn't allow you to get a large daycare license so there is no hope of expanding.
Reply
TXhomedaycare 09:25 PM 11-06-2015
Originally Posted by Silly Songs:
Comments in that article are interesting .
The comments are very interesting. My favorite one is "childcare works do their job because they love kids not for the money. If they wanted more money they should have chosen a different career."
Reply
Controlled Chaos 09:50 PM 11-06-2015
Originally Posted by TXhomedaycare:
The comments are very interesting. My favorite one is "childcare works do their job because they love kids not for the money. If they wanted more money they should have chosen a different career."
I tried to that one! But then they wanted me to register so I drank some wine instead
Reply
Ariana 12:04 PM 11-07-2015
Originally Posted by TXhomedaycare:
The comments are very interesting. My favorite one is "childcare works do their job because they love kids not for the money. If they wanted more money they should have chose a different career."
Yes because it's "womens work" and we women only do it for the love of he children Then they wonder why little kids are being abused.

I made a great salary when I was an educator at a centre but it was because I was unionized. Even with that great salary and benefits plus a pension the guy who picked up my garbage with ZERO education made more than me as part of the same union. Now ECE's are expected to do the same job as their Kindergarten teacher counterparts for half the pay!! The lunacy is overwhelming sometimes.


It's pretty simple, if it's "mans work" it's worth more.
Reply
spedmommy4 04:16 PM 11-07-2015
Originally Posted by Ariana:
Yes because it's "womens work" and we women only do it for the love of he children Then they wonder why little kids are being abused.

I made a great salary when I was an educator at a centre but it was because I was unionized. Even with that great salary and benefits plus a pension the guy who picked up my garbage with ZERO education made more than me as part of the same union. Now ECE's are expected to do the same job as their Kindergarten teacher counterparts for half the pay!! The lunacy is overwhelming sometimes.


It's pretty simple, if it's "mans work" it's worth more.
I tend to agree with this ^^^ statement. I know that women go into engineering and technical fields, but they are heavily dominated by the guys. I have a master's and I made $48k and change during my first year as a teacher. With my school district, I would have topped out at about $77k. (After 15 years). My DH has an associates in a technical field and is an industrial maintenance technician. He makes more with his associates than I would have topped out at as a teacher. .
Reply
Josiegirl 03:10 AM 11-08-2015
Originally Posted by Fiddlesticks:
Exactly. I have been a preschool teacher in a center, and an elementary school teacher, and my income as a home daycare provider surpasses both of those. Combined.
Is that before or after taxes? My income sounds really good....before taxes. Then I give a lot back for self-employment tax and all that, plus all the materials, equipment, etc., etc., we buy. Let's face it, running a daycare isn't cheap but people don't realize that.
Reply
Josiegirl 03:19 AM 11-08-2015
One reply said most child care workers are part time and get paid under the table. Really??? They're talking about their Saturday night babysitters, not those who make it their profession. Some people should just not reply.
Reply
Fiddlesticks 09:11 AM 11-08-2015
Originally Posted by Josiegirl:
Is that before or after taxes? My income sounds really good....before taxes. Then I give a lot back for self-employment tax and all that, plus all the materials, equipment, etc., etc., we buy. Let's face it, running a daycare isn't cheap but people don't realize that.
This is a complicated question. My total income, minus my total direct expenses exceeds any former income I have received. But my schedule C takes deductions for my home that significantly decreases my taxable income. I do not consider this a decrease in pay, because I have a mortgage and other home expenses with or without daycare. I was a preschool teacher, then a home daycare provider, then an elementary teacher, and back to a home daycare provider, so I have a strong basis for my comparison; my bottom line is better as a home daycare provider. Also, I spent a ton of my own money both in the preschool classroom and the elementary classroom but was only able to deduct $250 per year, with daycare every penny spent is deductible. I have nine full time daycare children, and live in an area in need of more child care options (ie:daycare is expensive here) for comparison's sake.
Reply
Ariana 10:16 AM 11-08-2015
Originally Posted by spedmommy4:
I tend to agree with this ^^^ statement. I know that women go into engineering and technical fields, but they are heavily dominated by the guys. I have a master's and I made $48k and change during my first year as a teacher. With my school district, I would have topped out at about $77k. (After 15 years). My DH has an associates in a technical field and is an industrial maintenance technician. He makes more with his associates than I would have topped out at as a teacher. .
Yep and as we all know women in these fields make less than their male counterparts (same job, same credentials). I think it's the old idea that men are the breadwinners and women just supplement their income. It's starting to get old though because many women are now breadwinners.

The amount of jobs that men can do with little to no education and make excellent wages at is mind boggling.
Reply
daycarediva 08:11 AM 11-09-2015
Originally Posted by spedmommy4:
I tend to agree with this ^^^ statement. I know that women go into engineering and technical fields, but they are heavily dominated by the guys. I have a master's and I made $48k and change during my first year as a teacher. With my school district, I would have topped out at about $77k. (After 15 years). My DH has an associates in a technical field and is an industrial maintenance technician. He makes more with his associates than I would have topped out at as a teacher. .
That's simply because STEM fields make more money. Women tend to chose more civil service positions that make less money, regardless of degree. It makes for very skewed results when researching men/women pay structures.
Reply
spedmommy4 06:49 PM 11-09-2015
Originally Posted by daycarediva:
That's simply because STEM fields make more money. Women tend to chose more civil service positions that make less money, regardless of degree. It makes for very skewed results when researching men/women pay structures.
True. I just think it is incredibly sad that the field of elementary/secondary education requires graduate level training and pays so poorly.
Reply
Ariana 11:12 AM 11-10-2015
Originally Posted by daycarediva:
That's simply because STEM fields make more money. Women tend to chose more civil service positions that make less money, regardless of degree. It makes for very skewed results when researching men/women pay structures.
They make less pay for the same jobs. STEM jobs are male dominated. You'd be hard pressed to find a male dominated field that doesn't pay a TON. Even male nurses get paid more than females for the EXACT same job.

The results are not skewed at all. Research has been done on women working the same jobs and they make less pay all across the board. They aren't comparing all male jobs to all female jobs. That is a myth and where a lot of people get confused. My husband makes about $30K more than his female co-worker who has been in the field for the same amount of time, same degree.
Reply
Tags:article
Reply Up