The lesson is that struggling preschool staff want a fair wage

Parents are paying the equivalent of a second mortgage on childcare because state investment is 10% of what is internationally recommended, says Marian Quinn

EARLY childhood education and care will be in the spotlight tomorrow. Childhood professionals across the country will stage a “walk-off” to express their frustration with a lack of government investment in their sector. They will call for a significant change in thinking and resourcing.

As the economy moves towards full employment, parents are in dismay that while they are at work they pay the equivalent of a second mortgage to ensure that their children are well looked after.

Children’s success is grounded in their early experiences. Young children need strong, trusting relationships with the people who provide their early learning and care.

When parents register with an early childhood education-and-care centre, they are trusting that the people working with their child will provide the best experience for them — that it will be fun, stimulating, and safe.

They also require that it is accessible and affordable.

However, providing high-quality early childhood education and care is expensive.

Statutory regulations and good practice require specific ratios of adults to children, which means that provision is labour-intensive. Add to this rising insurance costs, regulatory requirements, utility, and rental costs.

The cost of providing services is no different from other countries — yet we continually hear about how affordable childcare is in the Scandinavian countries, in France, or in Germany.

What is the difference? . By best-practice international comparison, Ireland invests one 10th of what these countries do in this sector.

Where early childcare and education are considered public services — as vital parts of social infrastructure — they receive a completely different level of government priority and investment.

So why is it that the Government continues not to fund this sector? The answer lies in an historic attitude that prevails.

Childcare has been, and largely continues to be, seen as within the realm of the family rather than the State — and therefore the burden of cost predominantly remains with the family.

This ideology is beginning to shift, with measures such as the introduction of the Government-backed ECCE scheme in 2007.

However, we remain at an unacceptably early stage in this shift and, unfortunately, the level of government investment in early childhood education and care remains abysmal.

The fact that the State invests just 10% of what is internationally recommended is why parents are paying so much, is why the sector is struggling to retain staff, and why centres are closing.

In the view of childhood professionals, existing services are being subsidised by the poor pay and conditions of staff and by unsustainable services, many of which are forced to close.

Early-years teachers earn little more than minimum wage and substantially below the living wage.

This is a labour-intensive profession, so even when staff are earning little more than minimum wage, this cost accounts for approximately 70% of the provider’s expenditure.

The consequence of poor pay and conditions is that staff are leaving the profession en masse. Some go abroad, others may apply for jobs as an SNA, an early years tutor, or support specialist, and many more move to retail or a different industry.

Providers find themselves caught in an unsolvable staffing crisis.

They know that improved pay and conditions are required to solve the problem, but they cannot increase the fees to cover this cost, as then parents would not be able to afford to send their children.

So what are providers to do?

Many are closing — and, increasingly, some are solely providing the “free preschool” (ECCE) scheme, with no other opening hours.

There is no overnight solution to this problem.

It will take years of sustained growth in investment to achieve high-quality provision that meets the needs of all the stakeholders — parents, early-years staff, and centre providers.

We must work to ensure that the early-years workforce does not continue to be exploited by government to provide ‘affordable childcare’. As this continues, local provision will become increasingly unavailable for parents, causing a whole other set of problems.

Parents will be frustrated with many centres for closing early tomorrow, as part of the national action. Childhood professionals are not doing this to isolate parents, or to seek greater payment from them.

We are seeking parents’ understanding and support to advocate for greater investment in this sector, as a priority issue on the political agenda.

We invite parents to join with the profession — and to call for a change in thinking and increased government investment, which will support quality care and education for children, together with a continuum of trained staff and local centres to provide it.

Marian Quinn is chair of the Association of Childhood Professionals