Public Attitudes Towards Teachers’ Wages Revealed – Is It Time For A Pay Rise?

After conducting fresh research that sought to find out the public’s latest views and attitudes towards teachers’ pay, we found that most people think that teachers are paid too little across all levels of schooling. We researched the average salaries for nursery, primary and secondary school teachers by using the Indeed Average Salary tool. Then, we presented the wages to a large group and asked them if they thought that the salaries were too high, too low or at the right level. 

When asked about the average teacher salary at nursery level, only around a quarter of respondents thought that the wages were fair. Nearly three-quarters of people thought salaries were too low and would likely support an increase in teacher’s wages at this level. It’s clear from this data that a majority of people don’t think that the sum received by this group reflects the time and effort they put into their roles each day.

Meanwhile, just 4% of people thought that nursery teachers’ wages were too high. This indicates that the vast majority of the general public would likely be opposed to the idea of any reductions in teachers’ pay going forward.

Only one in three people surveyed felt that primary school teachers were paid a fair amount, whilst 63% said that their wages were too low. 6% of people felt that their wages were too high, but this group was far outnumbered by those who thought that teachers should be receiving more money for their work.

This comes amidst reports that some teachers have felt that their day-to-day roles have become more difficult and time-consuming since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. These results indicate that the public would be supportive of any efforts to reward teachers for putting in extra time and effort to deal with the new challenges they’ve faced since the start of the pandemic.

Despite secondary school teachers being paid the highest average wage out of the main three schooling levels, only around a third of respondents said that they were being paid a fair and competitive salary. At 62%, a significant majority of people felt that secondary school teachers deserve to be paid more than what they’re getting currently.

At 7%, a larger number of people thought that the average secondary school teacher wage was too high when compared to responses for other levels of teaching. However this group of respondents still made up a small minority of answers, indicating that there is hardly any public support to cut teacher salaries at a secondary level.

It’s clear that the public are calling for higher wages for teachers across the board. But what are the reasons behind this, and why now? One factor could be the UK government’s recent decision to freeze wage increases for public sector workers earning over £24,000 a year, meaning that significant numbers of teachers would see their wages stagnate.

Critics have argued that policies like these can cause public sector wages to fall behind inflation, meaning that if wages stay the same, it can leave teachers worse off as time goes on. 

Studies show that the COVID-19 pandemic had a negative impact on teachers’ wellbeing and squeezed staff capacity as many teachers have had to take time off to self-isolate. Teachers played a vital role as key workers during the pandemic and this may have shifted attitudes, causing the public to be more open to pay rises for teachers than they were before. 

Our data reflects the growing positive attitudes towards these workers in the UK and shows that the public may have become more appreciative of education staff since the start of the pandemic. The public may be expressing their gratitude for teachers who are taking on added pressures by pushing for higher wages.

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