Welcome,
This week we look at the government's pay increase for child care workers and why they are so badly remunerated. We also have a very amusing article courtesy of The Daily Stir's Kristen Chase.

Have you had your say on Australia's child care system? We've had over 1800 parents share their views already, so please take part. For your time you could have yourself an iPad mini.

Last month it was announced that a $300million federal fund is being allocated to the child care industry to subsidise a long overdue increase in wages of child care workers.

About time I hear you say. Well not so fast as not all child care workers will get more money.

As with all government grants there are conditions. Funding is only available to long day care centres and is for a period limited to two years. Centres must apply for the funding and must meet various criteria in order to be eligible.

Centres that miss out on the grants will be under pressure to increase wages in order to retain staff. The Australian Childcare Alliance has calculated that these centres will have to charge parents $10 a day more in fees, to cover the cost of pay rises.

So will the $114-a-week pay rise have a significant impact on those teaching and caring for our children? Despite the rise in wages for childcare workers, this essential part of our workforce represents some of the lowest paid wage earners in the country.

Which begs the question: Why don't we value our child care workers as much as other professions like doctors and dentists, other healthcare professionals or social workers, or even as much as teachers and other educators who, let's face it, are pretty badly paid as well.
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We stumbled across a fantastic article in The Daily Stir and simply had to share. It's not just pertinent to parents of school-aged kids, but for pre-school and child care parents as well.

From sending in sick kids and putting everyone else at risk to allowing children to wear ridiculous outfits and making every other parent's life a misery, if you're one of these parents, you should see your actions from everyone else's perspective.

5 Annoying Things Parents of School-Aged Kids Do
by Kristen Chase

When my kids were little, they were with me most of the time, so for the most part, I didn't have to deal with the choices of other parents. Hey, I'm not perfect, but I would like to think I'm pretty considerate of others. Well, most of the time, anyway.

But now that they're all in school, it's like a constant barrage of inconsiderate behaviour. Oh the annoying things parents do.

If you've got school-aged kids like me, then my guess is that you've had to deal with this as well. And while I do my best to grin and bear it, I'd really love to give these parents a piece of my mind.
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