Debates regarding federal child-care policy have been heating up as the Liberal Party seeks to defend its $10-a-day program from various critics.
While there will always be partisan debates about the best approach toward child care, what is often left by the wayside is that CWELCC is already providing affordable child care to 938,000 children aged 0-5.
The primary issue facing the program is a market one: Increased demand has revealed pre-existing labour and infrastructure shortages. Canada does not have enough trained early childhood educators or child-care spaces. To solve this problem the federal government needs to address capacity shortages directly. One way to do this is to provide child-care operators with a clear, predictable operational funding formula to have a clear view of expected revenues and encourage long-term investments, including increased workforce compensation.
Another aspect of the debate on child care revolves around funding for licensed and unlicensed care. To be clear, licensed child care includes home daycares, centres, before and after-school programs, and preschools. These are regulated and must adhere to standards regarding safety, staff qualifications, child-to-adult ratios, and quality — in the same way that public schools in Canada follow guidelines related to curriculum and educational standards.
Part of the argument in favour of simply giving families money for child care is that the money could be used for alternatives to licensed care spaces. However, we know that the majority of families in Canada already use licensed child-care services. Our most recent report reveals that only about 12% of children in Canada are in informal child-care arrangements and 21% are cared for exclusively by parents as opposed to 67% in licensed care. On top of that, more than half of families in Canada outside of Quebec currently not using daycares would like to use licensed child care.
Like any public policy, the $10-a-day program isn’t perfect, but its net-positive effects are undeniable and with a few tweaks it could help even more families in the coming years. The intent of the program is to provide accessible, affordable and quality childcare services to the majority of Canadian children 0-5 years of age and build a system of early learning and child-care services that parents and children can rely on. A system that will help control fees so that all Canadians, no matter their income, can benefit from child care.
Parents begin the stressful hunt for child care with the hope that, once a spot is secured, they can return to work. Parents — including women — don’t just want to return to work, but they often need to return to work. Financial necessity is a significant motivator, as the economic impact of taking time off to raise a child is often unsustainable for many families, especially those relying on dual incomes. Returning to the workforce isn’t just benefitting each family — it is boosting the Canadian economy.
In Quebec, where licensed child care has been highly affordable for more than two decades, the employment rate of mothers is 13% higher than in the rest of Canada. As Dr. Gordon Cleveland, an economist who has specialized in child-care policy over the last 30 years, notes in our report, “If we could simply bring the participation rate of prime-age women in the rest of Canada up to the level in Quebec [87%], we could add almost 300,000 people to our country’s workforce.” Employers would then gain access to a broader, more diverse talent pool. At a time when optimizing our country’s economic growth must be a priority, investing in the expansion of the federal child-care program is a no-brainer.
Parents deserve a choice when it comes to child care. At a time when the cost-of-living increase is a reality felt by so many Canadian families, we should be able to put aside partisan debates and do what creates the most benefit for children and parents. Having expanded child-care capacity and a variety of licensed care options, combined with extended parental leave, creates an environment that is beneficial for parents and the overall economic success of our country.
So yes, the program needs tweaks, but let’s not let perfection stand in the way of progress.
— Julie Savard-Shaw is Executive Director of The Prosperity Project. Janet Ecker, Kathleen Taylor, and Penny Collenette are Founding Visionaries of The Prosperity Project.