With the Gillard Government under increasing pressure to include professional wages for early childhood educators in this year's Budget we want to know what you think child care professionals deserve to earn.

In many previous articles you have expressed increasing frustration at the lack of attention paid to wages for early childhood education workers. For example in response to our recent story on the Greens' proposal to wipe university fees for graduates who work in the early childhood sector we received comments such as:

"This is not the solution. Early childhood educators and carers are the ones needing a pay rise. What will it take to make people stop and listen? Will it be a mass walk out of educators who have been in the profession for over 20 years? Pay the people that are educating and caring for your most valuable possessions - YOUR CHILDREN. The Government needs to listen NOW before it is too late… you may see us all working at our local supermarket instead of in child care." Lori

"I agree that the pay rate is appalling. That in fact is an understatement. The pay issue needs to be addressed." Rosemarie

Clearly wages are a major sticking point.

United Voice, the child care union, has been actively seeking a wage increase through its Big Steps campaign claiming a wage increase would solve the staffing crisis facing the early childhood education sector.

ACT Branch Secretary of United Voice, Lyndal Ryan says low wages are causing 180 workers to leave child care every week for better paying jobs.

"Low wages are preventing the best and brightest professionals remaining in and joining the early childhood and care sector. Sadly for the educators forced from work they love, but in which they can't afford to stay, these better paying jobs are often less skilled and less satisfying."

"This is undermining the sector's ability to deliver the high quality, affordable and accessible child care parents expect for their young children."

But United Voice says the government needs to step in and help as neither parents nor child care providers can afford to pay any more.

"Funding for professional wages needs to be in the 2013 Budget so we can stop this exodus," says Ms Ryan.

So how much do child care workers earn and how much should they earn?

According to United Voice early childhood educators should earn wages on par with what other professionals with similar qualifications receive.

This doesn't happen now. For example, a child care educator with a Certificate III is paid $18.58 per hour, almost $10 per week less than the $28.44 per hour which a manufacturing worker with a Certificate III receives.

In addition recent ABS statistics show that early childhood educators (with the exception of managers) earn less than cleaners and laundry workers, and only marginally more than hairdressers, animal trainers and check out operators despite the responsibility they have and the qualification requirements.

Figures released in January show the average weekly earnings of child care workers are $811.40 well below the average full time weekly earnings of $1453.60¹.

Early Childhood Australia is also arguing the case for an increase in wages and in a pre-Budget submission has called on Government to invest in child care wages to ensure children receive high quality care and that the sector can attract and retain high quality staff.

"Families and service providers are not in a position to fund the disparity in wages, and as a sector we are calling on the government to fund the gap to ensure that children can gain from having consistency with educators and that staff are properly remunerated for their duties as qualified professionals," says the ECA submission.

Clearly early childhood educator wages are a hot topic right now and given the amount of pressure being put on Government to address this issue it will be interesting to see what they come up with in this year's Budget.

1. Australian Bureau of Statistics - Average Weekly Earnings, Australia, Nov 2012.