Misconception #29: Babysitters are Paid Better Than Teachers

Over the years, I have been writing about misconceptions regarding the schooling process. The purpose of these posts is to explain why I disagree with various comments that I have heard people make about schooling. These are meant as personal thoughts rather than conclusive proof, and I will admit that I'm not always the best at explaining my thoughts. Regardless, I have decided that I should be willing to share these posts when I encounter someone online who makes an argument that I have already discussed.

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After years of complaining that people think of teachers as expensive babysitters, the teaching profession has now embraced the comparison. They have been arguing that babysitters get paid more money than they do. If that’s the case, why don’t they switch professions to babysitting? The answer should be obvious. The money isn’t there.

Wait a second. How can teachers complain that they don’t get paid as much as a profession that makes less money? It’s another obvious answer. Teachers are cherry picking their arguments. They fixate on an hourly wage per child, but completely overlook the bigger picture.

Babysitters are paid to watch after a single family’s children on a schedule set by parents for short periods of time. Teachers are paid to watch over a larger group with far less personal attention. Parents send their children to school based on their teachers’ schedules instead of having the flexibility to create their own. School days are longer than babysitters generally work, and teachers also have more days with the children than babysitters do. Babysitters would not be able to make nearly as much per hour and per student if the parents had to worry about such an increase in hours that they are responsible for paying and reduced personal attention. The idea that teachers are paid less proves little more than the idea that teachers are seriously out of touch with reality.

There are also issues with how much money is actually involved in both of these professions. For example, teachers are comparing their base salaries to babysitting rates. How about benefits? Babysitters don’t get those. Then you have the things teachers “paid for with their own money.” They insist that we should subtract this money when talking about their earnings while refusing to acknowledge that a lot of babysitters buy things for the children they watch.

Another difference is that babysitters are more directly responsible for watching over children. They usually get the job because the parents trust them. Teachers get the job because the children are assigned to them. Part of the money going to teachers actually goes to those who are assigning them the work.

Speaking of responsibility, why don’t we compare a child who skips out of class to a child who runs away from a babysitter. The school child gets all of the blame (or maybe shares the blame with the parents) and is expected to go back to that same teacher the next day. The babysitter would likely be out of the job.

If you look strictly at the amount made per hour per student, teachers might have a valid point. The problem is that they only want that one thing. They don’t want the limitations, the responsibilities, or the reduced yearly wages. Add the mentally destructive nature of the teaching profession, and I won’t hesitate to say that babysitters deserve higher pay.