I started work four afternoons a week at a local nursery. Most of the time I deal with the afterschool club children but at times get to care for babies upwards. I only work from 2.30-6pm on the whole but many of the girls I work with are doing 10 hour shifts. Looking after children is exhausting. It may look like just playing with them, keeping them entertained, feeding and changing them but it is like being a 10 headed octopus with eyes in the back and front of your head.
Take the other afternoon – as one child feel over their own feet so another was standing on the slide and had to be told to sit down whilst I was also bouncing another child on my hip who was feeling tired and then two of them decided to fight over the same toy and a parent appeared to pick up their child. Needless to say we did all survive but in the heat of a humid North Welsh summer of over 23 degrees it was exhausting. I come home after my 3 1/2 hour shift to flop in front of the TV!
But I am not writing this to get some pity. I am writing to say how important both this job and the one my daughter does – which is in hospitality. Both jobs are physically demanding. Both are minimum wage pay. Both are not encouraged in the education system. In fact I would put fruit and veg pickers into this group too. Poor pay. Rough conditions. Long hours.
At my nursery we are struggling to get staff. I heard yesterday that the colleges are struggling to get students on their child care courses. In the hospitality industry there is always a shortage of staff, especially after 2020 and Brexit/Covid stopped young people from Europe coming to the UK.
I have done work in schools and still do a bit of chaplaincy work and odd writing workshops with young people and I notice that school encourages going to university and various types of jobs over childcare and hospitality and horticultural/farming jobs. Our PM says about getting more young people into STEM subjects – which yes is important.
But who are going to look after the children of those who are working in offices, laboratories, in engineering, in IT, etc? Who are going to be the ones to be producing the food for these people? Who are going to be the ones who are going to be pulling the pints or mixing the cocktails for these workers at the end of a long day in the office?
These jobs are undervalued, are underpaid and if we aren’t careful will become harder and harder to staff. All are skilled jobs. We all have complained about the rude waitress, the barperson who has ignored us, the lack of fresh produce in our supermarkets.
Thankfully childcare is heavily scrutinised so that poor workers are removed and poor nurseries are closed down. But there is still a need. I heard my manager having to refuse a child because there was not enough space for this child with the number of staff we have at this moment. I have heard of pubs being close in my area due to lack of staff.
Something has got to change. These jobs need to become valued professions. They need to be seen as much an important cog in our society as the office worker, the engineer, the software designer. Our children need proper care so value childcare workers. Our degree skilled workers need places to relax so value hospitality staff. We all need good locally produced food stuff so value our farmers and fruit pickers.
I really do believe we need to value these professions were valued as much as those with in the STEM type jobs otherwise I do wonder what will happen. Perhaps society needs a wider lens instead of focusing on the a tiny part. Maybe let’s see how things all fit together not just look at one part?
Aspirational Adventures 