Cost Of Living Crisis: School Staffing Crisis 'Imminent' As Teachers Turn To Food Banks

Some teachers have been forced to turn to food banks due to the increase in the cost of living, as a union warns that a staffing crisis is "imminent" unless they are given a significant pay rise.

One teacher, who did not want to be named, told Sky News she can no longer afford to live based on her wage alone and has been forced to take out loans just to meet day-to-day needs.

The 49-year-old said the cost of living crisis has "made it very difficult to balance the books" and she is "worried" about the future.

"I'm struggling, if I'm being honest, I'm in debt because I'm not affording to live. I've had to get loans out… I've had to come out of pension completely because I need that money to live," she said.

"I can't even afford to go to the dentist, so my health is taking a backseat."

She explained that she has been forced to visit food banks to get by, saying: "It's dreadfully embarrassing as a professional to use that."

The woman, who works as a teacher in East Anglia, added that she has considered getting a second job or leaving the profession entirely, but doesn't know what else she would enjoy as much as being in the classroom.

"We are supposed to be professionals, and yet we can't afford to live," she said.

"We haven't had a pay increase for years and years and years. Something has to give, otherwise it will be like the Victorian times, when the rich get richer and the poor get poorer."

Real wages fell by 1% between December 2021 and February 2022 as pay struggled to keep up with increasing inflation, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Public sector workers have been disproportionately affected, with their pay packets increasing by 1.9% compared with 6.2% in the private sector - both of which plunge when inflation is taken into account.

In March, the government called for teacher starting salaries to rise by over 16% over the next two years, to bring them up to £30,000 by September 2023.

But the proposed increases for more experienced staff are lower, and the Institute of Fiscal Studies has said that given rising levels of inflation, the proposals would see a real-terms cut of 5% for more experienced staff between 2021 and 2023.

'Pay freezes can no longer be endured' 

According to the teaching union NASUWT, more than half of its members have reported cutting back on food spending just to make ends meet.

It found that seven in 10 teachers have considered leaving their job over the last 12 months, with nearly half stating that their pay was impacting their intention to leave.

One in 10 said they had to take a second job to make ends meet.

The union's general secretary has described the situation as a "bleak reality" and has called for teachers to be given a pay rise that meets the "skyrocketing" cost of living

Patrick Roach said:

"Teachers across the UK, and at every stage of their career, are seriously questioning if they can afford to continue another year in the education profession.

"The government has continuously failed to heed teachers' warnings that the toll of 12 years of pay erosion and successive pay freezes can no longer be endured."

He added that the government needs to "urgently secure the future of education" by delivering a pay uplift and restoring teaching as an "attractive" career.