I have often been reluctant to join in the fight to demand higher
wages for ECE’s – not because I don’t value what we do but rather,
because I love my job. I think that my reluctance to complain about
wages stems from contentment – for me it doesn’t feel much like work.
The money is not what motivates me to be a licensed family childcare
provider.
Before I opened my childcare home I volunteered in nursery and
kindergarten classrooms and ran a recreation program for the children in
the housing development where we lived – basically I was ‘working’ for
free. Being able to earn an income by doing something I truly enjoyed
was an added bonus. In all honesty, if I won a lottery I would still be a
family childcare provider – but I would be able to offer the program of
my dreams.
Yes, I know ECE’s earn far less than workers in other fields with a
similar amount of education but compared to the years my family spent on
social assistance this feels pretty comfortable. Yet, without the
additional income that my husband earns as a school bus driver I know we
would have difficulty paying the bills on my income alone. There are
many things we would like to do but don’t do because we lack the funds
to do them.
According to the descriptions over at PsychCentral,
for me family childcare is not a job, or even just a career – it is a
calling.I’ve been called ‘altruistic’ – I had to go look up the meaning
of that because it wasn’t a word I’ve ever used – and would definitely
never use to describe myself. Actually, I would probably have to say
that sometimes I feel selfish for enjoying my job. Yes, there are some
aspects of being a family childcare provider that even I don’t relish.
There are some days when I’ve had enough and I just want the day to end,
but would more money change that? I don’t think so.
So, let’s say I couldn’t be a family childcare provider and had to
choose a different job – I would expect more money because I would not
enjoy my job as much. In fact, there are some jobs that no amount of
money would make me want to do the work. Some jobs that would require
such an enormous amount of effort to just show up that even a huge
salary would not make it worthwhile. Yet, other people do those jobs so
something must motivate them – and maybe it is the money – maybe not.
So, since we’ve already established that I might not the best
spokesperson for the ‘Early Childhood Educators need more money’
argument, let’s talk about why I started writing this. When I hear ECE’s
constantly lamenting about how hard their job is, how unfair it is that
other people get paid more to do less work, making lists of everything
they don’t get paid enough to do, my first thought isn’t “You deserve
more money”. My first thought is “Maybe you need to find another job.”
Bracing for backlash.
Yes, I do think that ECE’s are underpaid – remember, my ECE wage
comparison was social assistance benefits – it took me three years
working as a family childcare provider before my income surpassed the
need for an income supplement. I do think that the job we do is
extremely valuable and that higher wages would help childcare programs
attract and keep qualified staff. But – we are trained to speak
positively to the children so why speak so negatively about your career?
Tell me what would make it better. How would more money positively
affect the job you do? What would a higher wage for you mean to your
program, the children in your care and their families. What would you do
with more money? Please, don’t attack those who are on your side and
doing their best to make a little go a long way.
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