Pay at Daycare

[ladybugmom]

Hi ladies I am new here but not to childcare. I am a single mom to a beautiful 7month old. My question is how much should a teacher's pay be if she has 7 years experience, cda and AS degree in early childhood? I feel really underpaid and thinking about leaving thanks

[QualiTcare]

it depends on where you work. are you talking about doing home daycare or working in a center?

i worked in a center and i had an AS degree (not in early childhood, just a general studies degree) and it meant NOTHING in regards to pay. i started out getting paid the same as an 18 year old with a GED who had never even held a baby.

i left that center and when i was close to graduating with my bachelor's degree in early childhood, they asked if i'd be interested in coming back. i asked for a dollar raise (a dollar more than MINIMUM WAGE) and they said no. i told them if they changed their mind then call me. they did call me and i did get the dollar more i demanded - but still, i got ONE dollar more than MINIMUM wage when i was only a few months away from having a bachelor's degree. centers don't typically care what sort of education you have (especially an AS degree) because they need warm bodies and there are plenty of warm bodies who need jobs (especially in this economy) who will work for $7.25 (minimum wage) instead of $8.25 (the wage i fought for with an AS degree, experience, and only a few months away from a BS and teaching license).

of course if you have your OWN daycare at home, you can make your own rates and decide what you're worth. since you feel underpaid, i assume you're talking about a center - but as i said - don't expect much. centers in general don't value education - in fact, i had more education than anyone there including the director and it was more of a hinderance than a help. a lot of tension can stem in a center environment when you're working with a group of people who want or wanted to be teachers, but couldn't/didn't for whatever reason.

[Abigail]

Ladybugmom, where are you located? What type of setting do you work in?

[QualiTcare]

it's true that a lot does depend on where you live. when i finish up my nursing degree, i'll start out making BARELY more than a lot of CNAs make in other parts of the country and it only takes about a month to be a CNA vs 4 years to be a RN (of course the cost of living is higher) but still - they're making way more than minimum wage and where i live - CNA's who make more than minimum wage are few and far between - they have lots of experience in other words.

nurses where i live are considered HIGH paid employees even though CNA's in other places are making almost as much.

but still i think the same concept applies. here daycare workers start out at minimum wage (7.25) and even with a degree would be LUCKY to make a dollar more. i would say if the average wage for an entry level employee in your area is $10 then you might be able to fight for $11. even though you worked hard for your degree, nobody else cares and they don't value it- trust me.

my advice would be to start your own daycare or go on to get a bachelor's degree where you can get a good job making a salary + benefits.

[Michael]

it depends on where you work. are you talking about doing home daycare or working in a center?

i worked in a center and i had an AS degree (not in early childhood, just a general studies degree) and it meant NOTHING in regards to pay. i started out getting paid the same as an 18 year old with a GED who had never even held a baby.

i left that center and when i was close to graduating with my bachelor's degree in early childhood, they asked if i'd be interested in coming back. i asked for a dollar raise (a dollar more than MINIMUM WAGE) and they said no. i told them if they changed their mind then call me. they did call me and i did get the dollar more i demanded - but still, i got ONE dollar more than MINIMUM wage when i was only a few months away from having a bachelor's degree. centers don't typically care what sort of education you have (especially an AS degree) because they need warm bodies and there are plenty of warm bodies who need jobs (especially in this economy) who will work for $7.25 (minimum wage) instead of $8.25 (the wage i fought for with an AS degree, experience, and only a few months away from a BS and teaching license).

of course if you have your OWN daycare at home, you can make your own rates and decide what you're worth. since you feel underpaid, i assume you're talking about a center - but as i said - don't expect much. centers in general don't value education - in fact, i had more education than anyone there including the director and it was more of a hinderance than a help. a lot of tension can stem in a center environment when you're working with a group of people who want or wanted to be teachers, but couldn't/didn't for whatever reason.

Welcome to the Daycare.com Forum ladybugmom!

[daysofelijah]

At a corporate for-profit daycare around here you would probably start out at $9-10 an hour, probably a little less at a non-profit/church type daycare $8-9ish. Very underpaid profession.

[kendallina]

As others have said it really depends on where you live. When I worked in Cali (state preschool) we paid teachers with a CDA around $12/hour. When I worked in Michigan (at a corporate for-profit) it was closer to $10-11/hour. Those with bachelor's typically made a couple of dollars more than that.

[ladybugmom]

Thank you ladies. I work for a church daycare. I am thinking about helping my mom get her home daycare going again but I dont know. I am trying to get my own place and I am fightinv to get paid more. I agree about problems going on because of having your cda or degree. Its like that here. I dont know what to do.