An NZEI Te Riu Roa survey has revealed 53% of teacher aides reported a lack of job security.
Many have been forced to find second jobs to make ends meet.
Dunedin teacher aide Tracey Clifton considers herself extremely lucky to have found consistent work at Wakari School.
However, it was becoming increasingly hard to find work at schools because they were not receiving sufficient funding to employ teacher aides, she said.
"Schools value us and know our worth.
"It’s the government that does not respect us as professionals."
Teacher aide roles were funded through operational grants, which were used to pay for utilities such as toilet paper and electricity.
"We're basically competing with the toilet paper and electric bill to get [our pay]."
She said teacher aides served an important role in catering for the needs of neurodiverse students.
While teachers taught the entire class, teacher aides assist students with reading, writing and maths so they can keep up with their peers.
The teacher aides were under a lot of pressure because they were often understaffed, Ms Clifton said.
"We're always juggling, pivoting on the spot to try and cover everything that needs to be covered within the school."
It was getting harder to retain good support staff as there was no job security and often teacher aides would not know if they would be employed the following year, she said.
NZEI Te Riu Roa estimated only 10% of teacher aides worked fulltime and at least 54% were on fixed-term contracts.
Ms Clifton said teacher aide pay did not keep pace with the cost of living and many of her colleagues had left the job.
"We are stretched thin and it’s hard to attract the best teacher aides."
She said aides wanted their funding centralised and a decent pay increase.
"We want to see our tamariki succeed through school and we'd like the decision makers to properly listen to us."
