Teaching is a complex and increasingly demanding task hence teachers need their efforts to be properly rewarded. According to OECD estimates, teachers’ salaries are lower than those of similarly educated workers in almost all countries with available information. TALIS data shed light on patterns of satisfaction with the financial package. In 2018, only 39% of teachers report satisfaction with their salary, and this proportion is significantly lower for primary teachers in about half of the countries. Moreover, the second-highest spending priority reported by lower-secondary teachers is “improving teacher salaries” (64% of them rated this of high importance). Education systems should aim for reward structures and salary scales that combine statutory salary levels on par with international standards to ensure a good standard of living. Additionally, bonuses should be provided for teachers working in regions with higher costs of housing and living, and for those working in disadvantaged schools. There should also be opportunities for salary progression over the course of a teacher’s career, as experienced teachers tend to be more satisfied with their salary in countries where there is room for progression, as opposed to those with flat reward structures.
Teacher working conditions
The quality of teaching is determined not just by the quality of teachers, but also by their work environment and working conditions
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Key messages
The importance of teachers’ job satisfaction in strengthening education systems cannot be overemphasised. Taken together, TALIS findings highlight the importance of five broad policy levers to boost job satisfaction: selection of candidates with strong motivation and the right attitudes to become lifelong learners and professional workers; a strong focus on induction and mentoring throughout the career; a strong focus on providing meaningful and impactful opportunities for professional learning; working conditions and a school climate conducive to teacher well-being; and the importance of a sense of trust and respect. With respect to working conditions, this can entail policy measures such as determining teaching and working hours in a way that accounts for all factors contributing to teachers’ workload (including non-teaching obligations, assessment, marking and correcting student work), assigning challenging classrooms to teachers with sufficient experience and adequate training to deal with the specific profile of their students.
On average across the OECD, nearly one in five (18%) lower secondary teachers say they experience stress “a lot” in their work. This is more often the case for female teachers (20% vs 15% of male colleagues), teachers under 30 (20% vs 15% of teachers aged 50 or above), teachers working in schools in city areas, publicly managed schools and disadvantaged schools. Research has highlighted that stress levels might play an important role in teachers’ decisions to leave teaching, and TALIS 2018 data show that teachers who report experiencing stress a lot in their work are almost twice as likely as colleagues with lower levels of stress to report that they will stop working as teachers in the next five years. Having too much administrative work, being held responsible for students’ achievement and keeping up with changing requirements from government authorities are key sources of stress cited by teachers. Coping mechanisms such as school support and peer collaboration play a pivotal role in the well-being and retention of teachers.
Context
Actual salaries compared to the statutory salaries
The range of teachers’ salaries within countries can be quite wide, as different qualification levels can be associated with different salary scales. For upper secondary teachers in 2023, the average salary for teachers at the top of the scale and with the maximum qualifications is 33% higher than the average starting salary for those with the minimum qualifications.
Upper secondary teachers’ average actual salaries compared to the statutory minimum and maximum salaries (2022)
Salaries relative to earnings of tertiary-educated workers
In 2023 teachers’ actual salaries at pre-primary, primary and general secondary levels of education are 81-95% of the earnings of tertiary-educated workers, on average across OECD countries and other participants.
Actual salaries of upper secondary teachers and school heads relative to earnings of tertiary-educated workers (2022)
Related publications
Programmes and projects
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TALIS - the Teaching and Learning International Survey - is the world's largest international survey about teachers and school leaders.Learn more
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Meeting the challenges of the 21st Century means that schools must be empowered to play a more central and active role in leading improvements in education. To support this, Schools+ will bring together major education networks to put schools at the centre of education design.Learn more
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PISA is the OECD's Programme for International Student Assessment. PISA measures 15-year-olds’ ability to use their reading, mathematics and science knowledge and skills to meet real-life challenges.Learn more
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The Education Policy Outlook is an analytical observatory that monitors the evolution of policy priorities and policy developments from early childhood education to adult education, mainly among OECD education systems, to provide a comparative understanding of how policies are evolving, and how they can be best implemented or improved over time.Learn more
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The OECD’s programme on education and skills policy support policymakers in their efforts to achieve high-quality lifelong learning, which in turn contributes to personal development, sustainable economic growth, and social cohesion.Learn more
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The OECD Indicators of Education Systems (INES) programme seeks to gauge the performance of national education systems through internationally comparable data.Learn more
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The OECD’s expanding evidence base has highlighted the importance of high-quality teachers and teaching in education. Yet, challenging questions remain, and there is a need for space in the teacher debate to anticipate future developments, to strengthen professional identity and to support proactive teacher policy making.Learn more
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Since 2013, the OECD has gathered evidence on how school resource policies work in different contexts. The focus is now on digital resources to enable countries to learn from each other in the digital transformation of their education.Learn more
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The Starting Strong Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS Starting Strong) is an international, large-scale survey of staff and leaders in early childhood education and care (ECEC).Learn more
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The Teacher Knowledge Survey (TKS) examines what teachers know about teaching and learning, and how their specialised knowledge of pedagogy relates to their work and training.Learn more