The Burnout Crisis in Care Work

Teachers, child-care workers, and nurses are some of the many important care-work jobs in society. Unfortunately, years of unfair wages and a lack of support combined with the COVID-19 pandemic adding on pressure, there is a rise in people working in this field that are experiencing burnout. This burnout is adding on to the stress that these workers are already feeling and it’s pushing them to quit their jobs and look for a better opportunity.

I recently found an article that focused on this so-called “burnout crisis” that interviewed a care-worker who explained why the care-work situation is so bad and the positives of trying to fix it. Instead of focusing on her own personal experiences in care-work, they actually focused on how it disproportionately affects women (mainly women of color), economic reasons to fix everything, and a suggested path to take to get there.

Now when it comes to teaching specifically, while I cannot relate personally, as I was very fortunate and was able to attend a private school, I have heard from friends I have that went to the public school I would have went to. The teachers there always seemed stressed. They would also often run out of supplies that they had to provide themselves from their already low pay as a teacher. I recently researched that the median teacher pay in High Point, which is where I am from, is around $53,000, which is $12,000 below the national average.

It is gross how poorly this country treats care-workers and I hope that eventually changes are made, like the ones mentioned in the article, to help those who are still in the care-work field.