More than one-third of staff in private day nurseries in Scotland are paid less than 5 an hour - barely above the minimum wage of 4.50 an hour for those over the age of 22, according to statistics published last week by the Scottish Executive. Public sector nursery nurses, who are currently locked in a pay dispute with their employers, are the highest earners at an average of 9.50 an hour, compared with 6.20 an hour in the voluntary sector and 5.80 in the private. Patricia McGinty, a director of the Scottish Independent Nurseries Association, acknowledged that there were problems with low pay and said one reason was that local authorities often would not pass on all the childcare subsidy allocated by the Scottish Executive.
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