The hours are long, the pay is low and the paperwork is never-ending; is this going force you into changing your career in working in childcare?

Childcare is a rewarding career to have, watching children develop and grow into independent, opinionated little people. Many practitioners say they chose to start working in childcare because they wanted to make a difference in children’s lives. Early years settings have a huge impact on the lives of children and their families; some children can spend up to 50 hours a week in nursery setting. This means that many practitioners get to observe children hitting their milestones for the very first time. This can be a great feeling to have as a practitioner, with the knowledge that you contributed to a child’s learning and skills they will have for the rest of their lives. However for many practitioners the reality of a day in nursery isn’t all meeting milestones and happiness.

There is another side to working in childcare, that many practitioners simply cannot take any longer. Many settings are open for 10 hours a day, usually 8am until 6pm. With new government legislation being introduced, this could increase to 6am until 8pm, to meet the needs of working parents. However with a number of practitioners being parents themselves, how will they be able to balance home and work life effectively? A working day can already be emotionally exhausting for practitioners and children, adding extra hours to this working day is bound to impact further on this. However longer working days may enable practitioners to work shorter days over the week or allow for more part time roles to be undertaken. This could help practitioners ease the pressure of long working hours.

Low pay is another factor that is forcing practitioners to leave the job. The average salary for a qualified practitioner in the UK is between £14,000 and £17,000, depending on location. This is in the lower percentile of income in the country. Many practitioners find this difficult to live on; however with the introduction of the National Living Wage, those aged over 25 years old will benefit from a wage increase up to £7.20 an hour. This is set to continue increasing over the next four years to reach £9 per hour. This could mean that nursery practitioners are no longer left behind on low wages, attracting more individuals to the profession.

Working with children involves a great deal of observation, planning and tracking. Paperwork is a huge factor pushing practitioners out of childcare. With the introduction of the revised EYFS in 2012, settings were told that this newly revised curriculum would minimise paperwork; however practitioners are yet to see this happen. For many practitioners, it can seem that paperwork takes over the day with registers to mark, risk assessments to sign, observations to complete, learning journeys to fill in and tracking sheets to complete. Many feel that not enough time is spent with the children anymore; just playing, exploring and learning together. However practice is constantly changing and what we uncover about how children learn is influencing the future of early education.

There are many factors that are encouraging practitioners to give up on working in childcare, however sometimes looking for the silver lining is all that is needed. That silver lining can be a child’s first word, a child being dry all day in his big boys pants or even a big smile from a child who has been off nursery for a couple of days. Children are the future and regardless of the stress and tiredness the career can cause, it is probably the most rewarding job in the world.