Does it pay to be a teacher?
New ISER research uses 27 years of labour force data to assess the likelihood that a teacher would be financially better off, for the remainder of their career, if they quit teaching
Enter your age and [sex/gender] to find out whether you would fare better financially outside of teaching [under three different scanarios]...
Teachers are among society’s most important professions, yet 3 in 10 would be financially better off if they quit.
We are very fortunate that personal motivations ensure that there are enough professionals willing to do this critically important job. However, we might not be so lucky in the future.
If policymakers want to recruit and retain the most effective teachers, they need to ensure that teachers starting salaries remain competitive and that the pay scales are adjusted so that experience is rewarded, because as things stand, for many it does not pay to be a teacher.