Concern in Longford as low pay contribnutes to worsening Early Years services staffing crisis

SIPTU has recently published the results of a survey of educators and managers in Early Years services which indicates that low rates of pay for workers is the main driving force behind a worsening staffing crisis.

Ewa Sienko who works as an Early Years Educator in Longford said, “I love what I do, caring and educating the youngest in society, it’s an important job and has a very positive impact on the children, however, the staff shortages have become a chronic problem in the sector because the pay is so low. Qualified professionals have no choice, they are leaving the sector, seeking better pay and working conditions elsewhere. This creates instability, making it difficult to maintain quality care for children and to deliver the services needed by parents.”

Speaking at the launch of the SIPTU Early Years Professionals Survey 2024 at a briefing in Leinster House, Dublin, SIPTU Head of Strategic Organising, Darragh O’Connor, said, “The Early Years Professionals Survey shows, staff recruitment and retention is having a major impact on the ability of services to meet the needs of parents and children. 

Staff shortages are increasing the workload on existing staff, leading to increased stress and burnout. Recruitment challenges are also crippling the sector, leaving many services unable to meet the increased demands in communities across the country.”

“This has resulted in a staff turnover rate of 25% per year. Not only does this undermine quality for children, but it is also threatening the future viability of services that simply cannot recruit or retain staff. 

Early Years educators and managers are caught in a vicious cycle of low pay, a staffing crisis and increased stress and burnout. It must be addressed once and for all,” O’Connor added.

Anne Craughwell, SIPTU Organiser, said, “The findings of this year’s Early Years Professionals Survey are very stark. In Co. Longford, managers find it very difficult to recruit staff and unsurprisingly at 70%, low pay has been found to be the biggest obstacle when recruiting staff. 

 As well as low pay, the biggest work issues are stress and burnout at 83%, pressure due to staff shortages at 77% and lack of recognition at 70%. The consequences of low pay have a material impact on staff, with 85% of Early Years educators only able to ‘make ends meet’ with ‘difficulty’ or ‘great difficulty’.”