BC can solve the affordability crisis in child care with a $10 a day child care plan. This will save families thousands of dollars, stimulate the economy and benefit all of us.
Children and youth
Social service schemes announced this week by the Manitoba Progressive Conservatives to encourage private childcare and introduce Social Impact Bonds soften the ground towards privatization. The assumption is that the private sector knows best how to fund and deliver public services. This is false – publicly delivered services are more efficient, accountable and in the long-term public interest.
HALIFAX – Nova Scotia's market-based, patchwork approach to Early Learning and Child Care is not working for families is the central message in the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives-Nova Scotia (CCPA-NS)'s submission to the province's Regulated Child Care Review.
According to Dr. Christine Saulnier, Nova Scotia Director, CCPA, "There is overwhelming evidence about the problems with our current approach, and about the best way forward. We have to get serious and invest to build a seamless public system."
On May 14, 2015, CCPA-NS Director Christine Saulnier, and CCPA-NS Research Associate Tammy Findlay, wrote this submission to the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development’s Regulated Child Care Review.
Numerous studies have demonstrated that quality child care has a positive correlation with improved childhood outcomes, notably higher social and cognitive scores upon school entry, especially with children living in poverty. On Wednesday May 13th child care advocates from across Canada are joining together to call for a universally accessible, quality and comprehensive child care system. This system would benefit all children, especially the most vulnerable to poverty and social exclusion.
This publication examines the Nova Scotia government’s investment in the early years, and finds that it is shamefully inadequate. The report makes it clear that that the lack of financial support for Early Learning and Child Care (ELCC) neglects a significant and growing body of evidence that this investment pays dividends in spades: it is critical for labour force development, will help retain and attract people to our communities, and provides an overall boost to the economy.
Halifax—Nova Scotia suffers from tunnel vision on the economic problems and solutions facing the province. The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives-Nova Scotia just released a publication, A New Economy Needs Child Care, in an attempt to take the blinders off.
Families in Canada deserve affordable child care, but costs vary widely across Canada. Many Canadians don’t know that Quebec has the least expensive child care in the country at $7.30/day. Quebec’s fixed fee puts the province at the top of the list for child care affordability, meanwhile in big cities like Toronto, parents pay $49/day, and in Vancouver it's $41 a day (for toddlers/preschoolers).
The work and family lives of Canadians have evolved over the past three decades. It's time our family policies grew up, too.
This study finds the current federal government's approach to family policy is falling short of the needs of parents. It makes the case for access to affordable childcare, improved leave for fathers, and tax policies that level the playing field in order to improve the quality of family life in Canada. The study also provides an analysis of the cost and distributional impact of income splitting for families with children under 18.
Inside this issue: