Nursery World - Salary survey 2006

Expansion of state-funded childcare settings is driving up rates of pay for nursery workers in the private, voluntary and independent sector, reports Mary Evans The average annual pay of childcare practitioners in the private sector, particularly people in senior positions, has risen by at least 10 per cent and in some cases by as much as 17 per cent over the past 12 months, according to the Nursery World/Hays Early Years pay survey.

The average annual pay of childcare practitioners in the private sector, particularly people in senior positions, has risen by at least 10 per cent and in some cases by as much as 17 per cent over the past 12 months, according to the Nursery World/Hays Early Years pay survey.

Employers warn that these big pay rises are not a signal of profitability or success, but rather a desperate attempt by proprietors to stop their senior staff being poached by children's centres.

The survey underlines the sharp contrast in the levels of pay enjoyed by staff in state-funded settings and their counterparts working in the private and voluntary sectors. For while the average pay of a nursery manager in the private sector has risen to 21,547, and to 13,179 for a manager working part time in a pre-school, the salaries in children's centres are much more attractive: 26,692 on average for a manager, 22,906 for a deputy manager and 17,204 for a senior nursery nurse.

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