Young women and men make career decisions early in life based upon their capabilities, their interests and the amount of money they might expect to earn. If there are shortages of early childhood educators, wage levels need to be increased to recruit more educators and retain the ones you have.
Why do we have a huge problem recruiting and retaining staff in licensed child care across Canada? Fundamentally, it is because the wages of early childhood educators and assistants are not competitive with other occupations that require a college education. Simple as that, really.
This first table shows the latest data from Job Bank about the hourly wage levels in a range of occupations that require a college education, specialized training or apprenticeship training. Early childhood educators and assistants appears at the top. Then, health occupations requiring a college education are grouped together, followed by occupations in education and law and in social, community and government services. The final group of occupations are in business, finance and administration. Early childhood educators and assistants across Canada earn an average wage of $20.88 an hour, which is lower than all the others. Read and weep.
| NOC Code | Occupation Title | Average Hourly Wage |
|---|---|---|
| 4214 | Early Childhood Educators and Assistants | $20.88 |
| 3222 | Dental Hygienist and Dental Therapists | $39.45 |
| 3223 | Dental Technicians and Lab Assistants | $25.09 |
| 3232 | Practitioners of Natural Healing | $34.41 |
| 3233 | Licensed Practical Nurses | $28.28 |
| 3234 | Paramedical Occupations | $34.68 |
| 3236 | Massage Therapists | $34.36 |
| 4211 | Paralegal and Related Occupations | $31.31 |
| 4212 | Social and Community Service Workers | $25.18 |
| 4214 | Early Childhood Educators and Assistants | $20.88 |
| 4215 | Instructors of Persons with Disabilities | $28.51 |
| 4216 | Other Instructors | $23.09 |
| 1221 | Administrative Officers | $29.00 |
| 1222 | Executive Assistants | $31.38 |
| 1241 | Administrative Assistants | $24.87 |
| 1242 | Legal Administrative Assistants | $26.22 |
| 1243 | Medical Administrative Assistants | $22.78 |
| 1253 | Records Management Technicians | $29.21 |
Where does the average wage of early childhood educators and assistants apparently fit on the ladder of occupations? It is similar to the wages paid for occupations requiring only a high school education or on-the-job training. Even here, many of the other occupations are paid better than child care.
See the table below that lists occupations requiring only a high-school education, except for the first occupation in which early childhood educators require a college education.
| NOC Code | Occupation Title | Average Hourly Wage |
|---|---|---|
| 4214 | Early Childhood Educators and Assistants | $20.88 |
| 3411 | Dental Assistants | $25.37 |
| 3413 | Nurses’ Aides, Orderlies and Service Associates | $21.54 |
| 3414 | Other Assisting Occupations in Health Services | $21.83 |
| 4411 | Home Child Care Providers | $18.03 |
| 4412 | Home Support Workers, Housekeepers and Related | $19.02 |
| 4413 | Elementary and Secondary School Teacher Assistants | $23.51 |
| 1411 | General Office Support Workers | $23.30 |
| 1414 | Receptionists | $19.79 |
| 1415 | Personnel Clerks | $25.79 |
| 1422 | Data Entry Clerks | $22.54 |
| 1511 | Mail, Postal and Related Workers | $22.49 |
| 1513 | Couriers, Messengers and Door-to-Door Distributors | $19.38 |
| 1521 | Shippers and Receivers | $20.66 |
The message is clear. If we want to expand early childhood education as a profession and have enough educators to offer good quality care at $10 a day, there is no real alternative to raising the wages. Simple as that.