Strategies on Getting a Living Wage – The case of childcare

On March 4, the Living Wage Technical group organised a seminar aimed at discussing strategies on getting a living wage in Ireland. Although the living wage has become a central part of the wage debate in the country, and a benchmark in civil society campaigns, there has been little discussion on the many barriers there are to its implementation and how to overcome them. Inspired by the seminar discussions, in this article we examine a few of these practical challenges in the specific case of staff in our sector.

The most immediate and obvious barrier is how to fund the wage increases. In a sector which is at a break-even point, wage increases that do not trigger increases in fees require substantial public investment. This leads to the question of how much public investment is needed. According to the latest Pobal report, six out of ten staff earn below the living wage rate of €12.30 per hour. In 2019, non-ECCE room leaders and early years assistants (both ECCE and non-ECCE) earned, on average, below the living wage rate. For illustration purposes, let us assume a scenario in which all those workers earn the average for their positions, and work 30 hours a week for 38 weeks per year. An estimate of how much would be needed to bring these workers to the hourly living wage, within the same contractual arrangements, corresponds to €11.3m annually. At a first glance, it is not much, given that the allocated 2019 early years budget amounted to €574m. However, the big problem here is that the living wage is based on an annual rate, which currently corresponds to €25,200. Its publication as an hourly wage is done for dissemination purposes, as it facilitates the understanding of the concept. This way, in order to bring those workers to the “correct” living wage, the new estimated costs in this imagined scenario jumps to more than €167m. And this is just a very rough estimate, as is it based on survey results, instead of extrapolated figures. Moreover, it excludes relief staff (who have the lowest earnings) and other staff who are under the hourly but not the annual living wage rate.

This simple exercise draws attention to two important points: first, bringing everyone to the minimum would require a major financial injection. Moreover, it is insufficient, as it should be complemented by frameworks for salary scales and access to a pension. Second, improvements of work conditions cannot be achieved without promoting a deeper sectoral reform. Existing policies promote precarious working conditions and result in thousands of our professionals relying on social protection payments as a source of income in the summer months. It is the position of Early Childhood Ireland that this arrangement is no longer defensible and that an ECCE reform is urgent. It is also imperative that the terms of this reform are extensively negotiated with various stakeholders in the sector.

The current government has expressed interest in creating a Sectoral Employment Order for the sector, but we believe that more research is necessary to inform this decision. All instruments available should be mapped, also in light of the international experience, so we can have a proper evaluation of which mechanisms are more likely to have a positive and long-lasting impact on the sector. Early Childhood Ireland is currently working on a research project that will inform this discussion and the wider Workforce Development Plan by making recommendations on how to support early years professionals in Ireland.

As extensively stressed by Early Childhood Ireland, early years educators cannot be expected to survive on their vocational commitment. They deserve a comprehensive career and pay structure; which our members must be supported to fund. This requires measures, which are complex – but perfectly feasible, if the value of the sector is politically recognized for the important role it plays in our society and economy.