Are you okay with the fact that we pay our cleaners more than our childcare educators?
I’m not. And I haven’t been for a long, long time.
Particularly considering the epidemic in helicopter parenting, clipboard holding school shoppers, attachment parenting, after-school cramming classes, co-sleeping, ‘mummy blogs’ and general obsession with providing children with some imaginary perfect life.
The notion of ‘best care’ seems rather selective.
The obsession with the perfect diet, germ free homes, attempted social engineering by selective socialising, harm minimisation through choice of the correct fabrics, risk minimisation with helmets, knee and elbow pads, stranger danger and safe searches.
There has never been more time, energy and thought spent on the raising of babies, toddlers and children, yet we pay our childcare workers such dismal wages it’s leading to 180 childcare educators leaving the sector every week. That’s not good. For anyone. Kids, parents or childcare educators. Why don’t we care? We should.