Smart Solutions for BC Families » The Economy
Our economy depends on working parents, and working parents depend on child care. 73% of women with children at home are part of the Canadian workforce. They are our teachers, our nurses and doctors, our postal workers and librarians, our engineers and tradespeople, our cleaners, our child care providers.
More than 77% of parents return to work following a child’s birth.[2] But with regulated spaces for only 15% of the children in BC, going back to work isn’t easy. In a 2006 survey, nearly half of parents said that balancing job and family responsibilities was the main source of stress when they returned to work.[3] Parents have few options – many work part-time, split shifts, and patch together care for their children.
Demand for child care is also increasing among employers who struggle to fill jobs that are vacant due to the increasing competition for skilled labour.[4]
But it doesn’t have to be this way. Every family who wants or needs it should have access to a high quality, affordable child care space. There is no better time to invest in a publicly funded child care system that will provide a return on many levels – to children who benefit from high quality care, to caregivers employed in our communities, to parents who can participate in the labour force. What bank offers that kind of return on investment?
BC has the ability to build a child care system that works for children, families and communities.
» Help us tell our leaders that public investment in child care is a smart solution for BC families and our economy.
[1] Women in Canada: Work Chapter Updates. Statistics Canada, 2006.
[2] General Social Survey: Navigating family transitions. Statistics Canada, June 2007.
[3] General Social Survey: Navigating family transitions. Statistics Canada, June 2007.
[4] Report from the Ministerial Advisory Committee on the Government of Canada's Child Care Spaces Initiative. Human Resource and Social Development Canada, 2007.
Resources
» Why Canada can’t work without good child care: How early childhood education and care supports the economy
Childcare Resource and Research Unit BRIEFing Note, 2008
» Advocates Quick Facts
Coalition of Child Care Advocates of BC
Read more:
Changing child care in Manitoba
Economic and social impact studies of child care in three regions.
Child Care Coalition of Manitoba, 2007.
The benefits and costs of good child care: The economic rationale for public investment in young children
Gordon Cleveland and Michael Krashinsky, Department of Economics, University of Toronto at Scarborough.
Childcare Resource and Research Unit, 1998.
Linking Economic Development and Child Care
Mildred Warner and others, Cornell University
Child Care Multipliers: Analysis from Fifty States (a summary)
The economic benefits of high-quality early childhood programs: What makes the difference?
E. Galinsky, Committee for Economic Development, 2006.
Costs, Benefits, and Long-Term Effects of Early Care and Education Programs
W. Steven Barnett and Debra J. Ackerman,
National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER), 2006.
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