Why the cheapest shift is the most expensive you’ll ever book
When the shift goes unfilled, everyone pays the price — the manager, the children, and ultimately the nursery's budget.
Why the cheapest shift is the most expensive one you'll ever book
Early years has long been plagued by low pay. It is one of the sector's most stubborn problems — and one of its least discussed. Low pay drives low attractiveness, low commitment and, ultimately, low retention. The staffing crisis is not a mystery. It is, in large part, the predictable consequence of a sector that has chronically undervalued the people doing its most important work.
Supply staff are no different — except the stakes are even higher. When a nursery is already under financial pressure, the temptation to offer supply staff minimum wage is understandable. But it is a false economy, and the data shows it clearly.
Let's start with the obvious question. Can someone actually make a living in London on £12.70 an hour, when the cost of getting to and from a shift can easily consume half of that? The honest answer is no. And if the answer is no, you are not just offering low pay — you are offering a reason not to show up.
The comparison that should make us all uncomfortable
A cleaner in London typically earns between £16 and £20 an hour. With all due respect to that profession — which is essential and honourable — it requires no formal qualifications, no background checks, no safeguarding training, no paediatric first aid certificate.
A nursery educator caring for children aged 0 to 5 — some of the most vulnerable human beings on the planet — has passed an enhanced DBS check, identity verification, reference checks, employment history checks, and holds certificates in safeguarding, food safety and paediatric first aid. If qualified, they have completed a full early years education programme.
And yet we have normalised paying that person £13 an hour unqualified and £15 if qualified. We need to sit with that for a moment. Because the discomfort is warranted.
What the data tells us
At Kalendit, we process thousands of supply bookings across London and the South East. Here is what our coverage data shows:
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The pattern is unambiguous. Post a shift at minimum wage and you will almost certainly not fill it. You will then spend the next 24 to 48 hours chasing cover, eventually paying emergency premium rates as the start time approaches — often more than you would have paid had you offered the right rate from the beginning. The cheapest shift is frequently the most expensive one.
What fair pay actually buys you
Beyond coverage rates, there is a compounding effect that does not show up in a single booking but is very real over time.
Talking about the staffing crisis is necessary. Deciding to be part of the solution is better. Fair pay for supply staff is not charity — it is sound operational practice that protects your ratios, your reputation and your relationships with the educators your setting depends on.
The sector will not fix itself. But it changes one booking at a time, and the next one is yours.