More early childhood centres adopt full pay parity but wage gap remains, Office for Early Childhood Education says

Friday, 4 July 2025

More early childhood education and care centres have committed to paying their teachers full pay parity salaries, however even at the highest rates, their teachers are earning up to 7 per cent less than similarly qualified and experienced school and kindergarten teachers, says the Office of Early Childhood Education (OECE).

Just-released salary attestation data shows 60 per cent of education and care centres will now pay their permanently-employed, qualified, certificated teachers according to the full pay parity scale, the centre says - the highest proportion since the scheme was introduced in 2022 by the then-Labour Government.

Dr Sarah Alexander, OECE’s chief advisor, said the figures highlight that “pay parity” is a misnomer.

“Calling it pay parity in the first place is hugely misleading. This term gives the impression that ECE teachers are being paid appropriately – they aren’t,” Alexander said.

Centres that opt in to the scheme select from four salary scales – base, parity, extended (partial), or full parity – with the level determining how much Government funding they receive per child, per hour.

Despite increases to base funding in the 2024 and 2025 Budgets, pay parity rates have remained unchanged since 2023. Meanwhile, salaries for school and kindergarten teachers have risen twice in that time, OECE said.

It said this had widened the pay gap: the best-paid early childhood teachers now earned 3 to 7 per cent less than their school and kindergarten counterparts, or between $2135 and $6266 annually. Those paid under extended parity - the next level down from full parity - earned up to 27% per cent less, a difference of $21,974 per year.

The Ministry of Education announced in May that centres cannot opt into higher parity funding levels until at least mid-2027, and additionally, the requirement for centres to pay non-permanent staff according to parity scales has been removed, the OECE said.

As a result, qualified teachers on temporary contracts can be paid as little as the minimum adult wage, it said.

Alexander warned that this growing disparity would worsen a staffing crisis, which would impact children’s learning.

“Paying ECE teachers less than other teachers who have undergone similar training, and meet exactly the same professional requirements, undervalues their mahi and experience.

“Teachers who work in ECE are not babysitters. They are highly knowledgeable and skilled – with responsibility for educating and caring our youngest (and most vulnerable) children.

“Unless the Government urgently raises ECE teacher salaries in line with the school system, the sector will continue to struggle to retain highly-skilled staff.”

The Office of Early Childhood Education (OECE) provided updated figures to the extended parity, requiring an edit of this story.

It was changed from those who “earn 15 and 30 per cent less, a difference of $8135 to $23,673 per year” to the new, corrected version stating, those who “earned up to 27% per cent less, a difference of $21,974 per year”.

4.35pm on 07 July, 2025