The results of the 8th annual CareforKids.com.au Child Care and Workforce Participation Survey are in and we received a record 2,494 responses this year, our highest response rate ever.

The results offer a unique insight into the way Australian parents view and experience the early childhood education and care sector and reveal some very interesting results:

Parents think you are underpaid
More than 70 per cent of parents believe that child care workers are under paid and undervalued. Many parents remarked that they definitely feel as though child care workers should earn more but said they can't afford to pay more in fees. They also said that although child care workers are under paid they are certainly not undervalued by parents, with one respondent claiming child care workers are worth their weight in gold.

Work Rules
86 per cent of parents across Australia said the main reason they were using child care was to engage in paid work. Child care centres are still by far the most commonly used form of child care with 77 per cent of parents using centre based care. Interestingly our survey shows that more families use nannies/au pairs then family day care with 12 per cent saying they use family day care and 14 per cent using nannies/au pairs. Grandparents are also gaining in strength with 17 per cent of families relying on grandparents for regular care.
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The most recent figures from the Australian Productivity Commission put the percentage of male educators working in the early childhood education and care (ECEC) sector at 3 per cent.

This is obviously an incredibly small amount, and is similar to other countries around the world. Why do so few men choose to work in early education?

There is no one simple answer to this question. Working with young children has traditionally been seen in society as a women's role. The "traditional" roles of men and women were as "breadwinners" and "nurturers" respectively.

As child care and early education developed in Australia, there was a common societal understanding that the work would be performed primarily by women.

But as gender attitudes and preconceptions change, this is increasingly seen as the wrong way to look at the roles of men and women in early education.
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On Monday 22 April 2013 Australia joins 175 other countries to celebrate Earth Day.

Earth Day occurs every year and is marked by events designed to increase awareness and appreciation of the earth's natural environment. To promote Earth day in your service you might like to try some of our earth inspired craft ideas:

Planet Earth Coffee Filters – Quick and easy.

Mother Earth – An extension of the activity above which teaches kids how to turn their planet earth in to Mother Earth.

Earth Day Wreath – This idea is suitable for an individual project or a group activity.

Habitat – This activity offers some great teaching opportunities and is only limited by your imagination.

Earth – Suitable for very young children this simple project will help kids refine their small motor skills.

Papier Mache Globe – This is a big project which would make an ideal group activity.

Leaf Rubbings – A quick and easy way to share the magic of the natural environment with young children.

Earth Day Rainbow – This lovely activity combines snipping, sorting and gluing.

Happy Earth – These cute little chaps can be personalised to look like their creators.

Did you know you can publicise your service's National Quality Standard rating before ACECQA starts publishing all available ratings in April/May this year… let us know.

This is a great opportunity to promote your service's achievements and Quality Improvement Plan.