Cost of living: 1 in 10 private school teachers have taken on second jobs

A survey has revealed one in 10 private school teachers have taken on second jobs as the rising cost of living continues to bite.

Financial concerns are forcing independent schoolteachers and support staff to take on additional paid work to make ends meet, a study of the National Education Union's (NEU) members has revealed.

In total, 10% of all teachers said they had taken on a second job, 16% additional private tuition and 3% had completed overtime.

Of support staff, 14.3% had taken on a second job, 5.2% private tuition and 7.4% overtime.

Nearly 3,000 teachers and support staff NEU members working in independent schools replied to the 2023 Independent Sector Pay and Conditions Survey.

In the survey, 43% of teachers stated that the cost-of-living crisis had affected their standard of living “a lot”.

A further 52% replied that their standard of living had been adversely affected ‘a little’, with just 4% saying ‘not at all’.

Support staff were hit even harder, with 54% saying the crisis was affecting them “a lot”, 42% “a little”, and 4% “not at all”.

It comes as more than a fifth of respondents working in private schools received a pay freeze, with only 2% being given a salary increase to match inflation, the NEU said.

The union blamed the gap between wage increases and inflation, saying for the current academic year only 2% of teachers and support staff working in independent schools had received an increase in pay that at least matched inflation.

The NEU added 25% of support staff and 21% of teachers working in private schools had their pay frozen.

This added to the fact 68% of support staff continued to be paid for term-times only meant they were struggling to make ends meet.

The wider issue of teacher pay and conditions across the board has let to growing discontent within the profession.

A recent survey of more than 17,800 NEU members in England and Wales, also found that 18% of non-independent teachers, and 21% of non-independent support staff, had been forced to take on a second job due to the rising cost of living.

Most teachers (85%) said they have had to reduce their home heating to save money amid the cost-of-living crisis, while nearly a quarter (23%) of teachers said they have been forced to skip meals.

Dr Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the NEU, said: “It is worrying that teachers and support staff, who already have heavy workloads in their main job, are unable to make ends meet.”

She called independent school employers to make one-off payments for this academic year to help staff and for pay awards to match inflation.

The NEU is planning five days of teacher walkouts in the summer term and possible action in the autumn in the dispute over pay.

School leaders in England could also be balloted again over strike action after union members overwhelmingly rejected the government’s pay offer.