‘We are seeing more staff leaving than are joining;’ Early childhood education sector grapples with staffing

KAMLOOPS – According to a new report from Early Childhood Educators of B.C., 45 per cent of ECE centres in the province are losing more staff than they can hire.

The report credited low pay, lack of benefits and working conditions as the main causes for staff leaving the industry.

“We are seeing more staff leaving the sector than are joining the sector,” Susanne Butcher, executive director of Cariboo Childcare Society, told CFJC News.

While a career in early childhood education may seem like all nap times and sing-along sessions, the industry is seeing more and more professionals leave the field.

“Historically, it hasn’t been a well-paid position, it has been left to mothers with children and – not looked down upon, but the importance of this position, the importance of providing and shaping the early experience of children has not been recognized,” Butcher said.

She said many entering the career don’t fully understand the difficulties of the job, even if they have experience working part-time or volunteering in ECE.

“We deal with the same thing day-in and day-out, so there’s a lot of repetition, and there’s a lot of unpleasant smells and there is a lot of challenging behaviour,” Butcher explained. “There are many, many good things about it, there are so many wonderful things — but I don’t think people new to the career truly anticipate the commitment and the dedication it takes to be a good childcare provider.”

According to TRU, there is no shortage of people interested in the field and this year their ECE programs were full.

“From the research that I’ve done, with new early educators, educators often will start working in the profession but it’s how long will they stay,“ said associate professor Laura Doan from TRU Early Childhood Education Centre.

Butcher said more needs to be done to shed light on the importance of the career, and with that will come better pay and working conditions.

“The more we learn about childhood development, the more we understand how these early experiences impact just general growth and development and have a lifelong impact,” Butcher said. “I think there’s a real push to see this as a professional occupation and that’s reflected with pay, benefits and that work-life balance.”

According to ECEBC, on average, professionals in other industries with the same amount of education make $7 more an hour than early childhood education workers.

“Someone who completes a diploma or a certificate at the post-secondary level in a different field is going to make significantly less money than an early childhood educator,” Doan said.

While the provincial government introduced a wage enhancement for workers with their ECE certificates, providing them with an additional $4 an hour, Doan says there needs to be a provincial pay grid for early childhood educators, similar to the one for BC teachers.

“I would love to see our government adopt a provincial wage grid. This is something ECEBC has advocated for,” Doan said. “This would help to recognize and also provide appropriate compensation for educators as they do additional credentials.”