Childcare is an extremely demanding career, but it can be very rewarding; however, more and more childcare professionals are leaving the childcare industry.
Here are the top 5 reasons why childcare practitioners leave the childcare industry.
The Long working hours
A lot of day nurseries are open for around 10 hours a day and with some nursery settings giving parents the options of early drop-off or later collection times. Most childcare nurseries are open Monday to Friday from 8am to 6pm. Depending on the shifts some childcare practitioners will do 10 hour days with a day off or a short day at some point once a week.
Having continuity in childcare is important and having the same practitioner at the start of the day right through to the end is what is ideal but this isn’t easy if that practitioner has their own family. Lets also not forget that staff meetings tend to be carried out outside of working hours.
These long hours are not good for practitioners wellbeing and is a huge factor in why childcare practitioners leave.
lots of childcare professionals are not able to work in childcare themselves when they start a family as they cannot work it round their own childcare needs.
many childcare proffessionals cannot work in the early years sector because they cannot work around their own childcare needs.
Badly Paid
Early Years practitioners in the UK are paid some of the lowest wages nationally. The wages of childcare professionals can be very off-putting for those who want to start a career in childcare.
The ‘National Living Wage’ was introduced in 2016 and that increased the minimum wage for all those workers over 25. This increase helped childcare professionals but it is also said that this National Living wage is not enough for workers to live above the poverty line.
Paperwork
The strain of never-ending paperwork has been taken its toll on Early Years practitioners for a long time now. The introduction of the revised EYFS hoped reduce and minimise the paperwork load. As ever this reduced paper work has yet to happen and childcare practitioners are struggling to juggle the demand. Along with safeguarding rules stopping nurseries and childcare providers completing paper work at home. Many staff in the childcare sector feel that this paperwork load is taking away precious time away from the children.
Low morale
Having low moreal in any work place can be detrimental to the working enviroment and child care provider staff need to feel motivated and passionate about their jobs in order to create a happy and efficient working working enviroment.
Lots of of things can contribute to low morale and it is important managers oversee the childcare settings morale to try and keep teh staff foucsed and working in unison as a team.
Feeling underappreciated
Early years practitioners can often be left Feeling underappreciated by managers parents and other industry professionals. Child care practitioners will have a great deal of responsibility in their job. However many people within in the childcare industry and also outside the childcare industry see early years professionals as being glorified babysitters or playing all day. This can leave childcare are professionals feeling very, very very underappreciated and worthless and want to leave the Early Years profession. If an early years practitioner is left feeling unappreciated for their hard work and dedication they will gain low self-esteem impacting on the children and also the team they’re working with.
Above are just five of the possible reasons why practitioners leave the childcare industry there are many other factors they can leave lead to low morale against childcare staff however these five can often convince them to change their career path away from the child care industry. These were some of the best childcare help in the UK.
