Vinicius ‘Vini’ Magalhães, 21, is struggling to find work in childcare because he is a man
An experienced childcare worker says he has been unable to find work in Australia because families are uncomfortable hiring a male au pair.
Vinicius ‘Vini’ Magalhães, 21, worked in the childcare industry in São Paulo for three years before travelling to Australia were he hoped to continue working with children.
Speaking to Daily Mail Australia, he said that he truly loves caring for children, and says that he always learns a lot.
‘If I didn’t love it, I would have given up already…It’s not easy and there still a lot of pre-judgment from people against male teachers, babysitters and childminders,’ he said.
Despite years of experience with children, Vini finds it hard to get work because he is a male
Vini loves working with children and witnessing ‘firsts’ as they grow and develop under his care
‘I’m passionate about working with children because it allows me to be responsible for the happiness of people other than myself,’ Vini explained. ‘Childcare workers get to witness so many wonderful “firsts” with children.
‘You get to be a part of the messy, amazing learning process, be on the receiving end of the most sincere smiles and celebrate the little things every day.
‘I’m a crucial part of each child’s development and I have the honour of helping to build the character of these miniature humans…It’s magical.’
Despite having a working with children check, a police check, an up-to-date first aid certificate and excellent references from previous employers, it was much more difficult than he thought to find a family to work for.
He said that he never thought he’d have to face such a hurtful situation, especially in a country like Australia, which he initially thought would be more progressive.
‘What really upsets me the most, is to think that there are still people out there thinking that way… It’s so old fashioned to believe that males can’t work in day care,’ he revealed on Tuesday.
He said that he never thought he’d have to face such a hurtful situation, especially in Australia
When Vini moved to Australia in 2015, he already had three years’ experience in childcare
‘People are very closed minded. I think they need to realise that there is no problem when a man does what is traditionally a “woman’s” job and vice versa, and stop pre-judging people.’
When he arrived in Australia in 2015, Vini emailed and messaged families who had advertised online expressing his interest in employment but the answer was almost always the same.
‘They all said, “Thanks for your interest in the job, but we don’t feel comfortable about having a male au pair, I’m sorry’,” he shared.
In 2016, Vini was hired by a large hotel chain to look after children while their parents attended meetings and conferences in the building.
But his shifts started to be cut down until finally he received a message from his boss saying that ‘a few parents have felt uncomfortable leaving their children with a male babysitter.
In 2016, Vini was let go from a hotel via text message saying ‘parents have felt uncomfortable’
Vini received lots of messages saying, ‘We don’t feel comfortable about having a male au pair’
‘[My boss’] boss has instructed her to let me know that only female staff are to be used at the resort kids club from now on,’ the text read. ‘I think that’s ridiculous.’
When Vini asked if there were problems with his performance at work, his boss quickly told him that wasn’t the case and that his work was excellent.
His boss also wrote that she found the idea of being uncomfortable with him ‘crazy’ because Vini’s work has always been ‘amazing’.
After receiving the text, Vini was brokenhearted and said: ‘To be honest, I’ve no words to express how bad I felt at the time I read that message.
‘I m feeling very upset, frustrated and incapable as I know (and all the staff at the hotel) that I was doing a really good job… I’ve been giving my everything to the job, giving my love, care and making the kids happy.’
While he is upset about the hotel’s decision, he hopes that other employers will be able to look past his gender and allow him to keep working in the job that he loves because he wants to stay in Australia.
Despite his difficulty finding work, Vini is determined to stay in Australia and keep searching
Vini’s parents (first and second from left in the back row) and mostly-female family have encouraged him to stay in Australia, share his story and continue to look for work he loves
‘I see equality as being able to celebrate our differences while opening ourselves up to freedom of possibility for all,’ Vini said, adding that his parents encouraged him to share his experience.
‘Nowadays, we live in a world where people think that we were all born to a degree of masculinity or femininity, and when we live our lives fully, we live in that masculinity or femininity.
He considered leaving the childcare sector, but was persuaded to soldier on.
‘My parents told me “Go after your rights, because gender discrimination or any other kind of discrimination is not acceptable, and even though we’re kilometres of distance from each other we still support you, and will do anything to help you on this.”
‘It was so amazing to see that people were defending me on the social media, sending me messages of support, trying to get me to go after my rights. It was incredible.’