Thank you to the childcare educators of Australia - Women's Agenda

Thank you to the childcare educators of Australia

This is the third Christmas where I have had to turn my mind to a present for my daughter’s day-care teachers. Each year as I wrap their little parcels and write on their cards I am struck by how woefully inadequate my homemade rocky road seems. Yummy? Yes. Indicative of our gratitude? No. How could any object reflect our appreciation for the lovely, kind, patient, caring and fun women — and they are all women – who entertain and look after our daughter?

I remember the first Christmas particularly well. My gratitude swelled as we bid the teachers farewell for the break. “You must be looking forward to having some time off,” I said to several. More than one replied “Yes but I’ll miss the children so much.” That may read like a flippant platitude but having watched them with my daughter and all her teeny peers for the previous five months, I knew it was sincere.

I can’t imagine many jobs that would be as physically exhausting, mentally trying and emotionally draining as looking after a roomful of small children. Sometimes being there for ten minutes makes my head spin. Yet I never get the impression that the teachers would rather be anywhere else. I get the impression every time that we arrive that they’re delighted to see my daughter, and even her baby sister. At the end of the day when they give her high fives or wave ‘bye bye’ as many times as she likes, which when she was smaller was many, they seem sad to see her go.

When she was 18 months old I replaced one of her water bottles, a minor detail, yet two of her teachers immediately noticed and exclaimed with delight because they knew it was one of her favourite things. She beamed back at them and my heart melted.

In the two and a half years that my eldest daughter has attended childcare I’d be lying if I said I haven’t experienced moments where I’ve wondered if it’s the best thing for her. Usually when we’re stuck in traffic at 5.45pm I conclude that it’s not. But I’d be lying if I said I ever spend my work days worrying about her. I genuinely don’t. I see the smiles she gives them, I see the way they delight in her and I’m confident the arrangement is so much better than fine.

It’s a point that I think is often overlooked when discussing the issue of childcare. The role of parents in the development of their children can’t be overstated or underestimated. Being the mother or father to a small person is an overwhelmingly wonderful role that brings great love and joy. But parenting little people is a hugely demanding task. The responsibility is relentless and being able to share the thrills, the spills and the task with others is immeasurably valuable. For everyone involved.

I think children benefit from learning they will be enjoyed and cared for by people other than their parents, just as I think parents benefit from learning other people will enjoy caring for their little people. Whether it’s spending an hour with a grandparent, a night with their aunty or a day with engaged and caring teachers, it helps a little person develop trust and understanding that the world is bigger than just their parents and that that can be quite fun.

Although it might seem entirely self-serving because I’m a working mother who uses childcare I quite genuinely believe this. Whether you work or not, and whether your child is one or 18, it is extraordinarily beneficial to have the support and involvement of other adults in your children’s lives.

There is a lot that is tricky about childcare in Australia. Affordability and availability are very real concerns for families. The cruel paradox, however, of childcare being expensive is that the day-care teachers are so poorly remunerated. The average starting salary of a university-qualified childcare teacher is $42,000. That doesn’t begin to reflect the physical demands of their job nor the broader role these educators fulfil; they are educating and caring for children at a heady developmental stage, they have enormous responsibility and they facilitate the workforce participation of Australian parents. The economic and social benefits that early childhood educators generate nationally are immeasurable. And they should be paid accordingly.

If anything constructive comes out of the debate currently underway about the allocation of funds for childcare teachers, or the Productivity Commission Inquiry into childcare, let it be this: remuneration that is commensurate with the valuable role childcare teachers fulfil.

In the meantime I would like to thank the childcare educators of Australia for the tremendous job they do. They allow families to earn an income and to do so without worrying about their children, because of these teachers we know our children are safe and cared for. For that, I am so much more grateful than any quantity of rocky road can possibly convey.

The Productivity Commission wants to hear from parents and Australians about childcare.

These are the key questions the Productivity Commission is asking:

  • Have you experienced difficulty accessing suitable care for your child? If so, is this due to a lack of services in your area or available places at the time you require?
  • Has increasing workforce participation by mothers increased demand for child care, or has improved availability, affordability, and/or quality of child care led to increased participation?
  • What can child care operators and governments do to improve the delivery of child care services to children with additional needs?
  • What are the particular challenges facing parents and operators in regional, remote and rural areas?
  • Whether any increased staffing costs for operators have been, or will be, passed on in higher fees charged to families?

 

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