Tell us what YOU need child care to be
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We know families need child care to be affordable and available in their communities. We’ve outlined the current lack of affordability and availability, and how it could change.
We asked:
- what other elements of a child care system are important to you and your family?
05 May 2008
How many people work for BC Childcare Subsidy?
It seems so backward to me to be paying a host of individuals a government employee’s wage to tell the rest of us whether or not we “qualify” for child care subsidy.
If we took away all of those jobs (if) and put all of that money toward public funding for childcare, what would that number be?
I know this would create unemployment, however I believe that the un entrapment of BC families is more important. The current system is absolutely suffocating.
Childcare needs to be affordable. Many parents don’t receive any subsidy because they “make too much money”. This is really a joke. Paying anywhere from $700 - $1000 per child/month for care is not reasonable. How are parents expected to support children, pay mortgages and all other living expenses when they’re faced with huge monthly daycare bills? Parents who are “doing OK” are completely unable to get ahead, unable to save money for their children’s education & their own retirement because they are burdened with huge monthly expenses every time they turn around. And daycare providers do not make enough money for what they do. These people are helping to raise our children and yet they make barely enough to put them above the poverty line. It is truly a disgrace that this is happening in Canada.
This letter is in response to Linda Reid, BC Minister of State for Child Care, letter in Pique Newsmagazine on Thursday Nov. 20th.
Dear Linda Reid,
Thank you for assisting the Whistler Children’s Centre in becoming compliant with the licensing requirement in order to provide a safe, educational and supportive environment for our children. We as parents support that licensing requirement.
You’ve indicated that you understand that communities across Canada are struggling to recruit qualified Early Childhood Educators (ECE) to meet the growing demand. To add to your comment, finding qualified Infant/Toddler (IT) certified teachers for children from 0 to 36 months is even more difficult.
The reason for this is very simple. I know that you are aware of what it is because there are numerous groups of child educators, advocacy groups and parents who have brought it to your attention on numerous occasions.
The wages for ECE’s are too low. Less and less students are going through the ECE study program because once they receive their certification, they make between $12 to $16 per hour maximum. This is a demanding career that they’ve chosen, not a student summer job.
There is a major shortage of IT educators for younger children. This is because there is absolutely no incentive for ECE educators to get their IT certification as they don’t receive a higher wage in doing so. Why isn’t there a program where ECE and IT qualifications are received simultaneously like other provinces?
Parents are currently responsible for 80 to 90% of licensed group daycare expenses. Costs have increased for parents drastically over the years but the wages have not. Increasing wages would mean increased costs for parents. For many of us, we can’t take on much more. I know some of us are paying up to 25% of net monthly income for daycare every month.
There is a disconnect between being compliant with the licensing requirement and the ability to find qualified staff. It would be like saying every hospital in BC must have a neuro-surgeon available 24hrs per day or they are not compliant. It’s just not feasible. In Whistler, the matter is even worse because there is nowhere for them to live.
The government prides itself on creating new physical daycare spaces every year. There are empty childcare spaces all along the Sea to Sky corridor even though the waiting lists are 100 families long. Why? Because no one can find teachers to fill the classroom. You made your political duty by indicating that you provide loan assistance and bursaries to encourage students to enter into the child education field. Still, students decide not to enroll into the program. Why would they if they can make more money by going through the university education system and become public school teachers or become a waiter? It doesn’t make sense to all of us but you and the provincial government try to justify it without acknowledging the real problem…wages.
I’ve spoken to the advocacy groups, educators, group daycares in the corridor and parents. We all agree that we have a crisis on our hands. If the situation continues and nothing is done about the group daycare situation, it will worsen and eventually shut down. This is the reality and you know it as well as we do.
What you are forcing us to do is to find care where the caregivers may not have the necessary qualifications and support system to provide our children with the proper care and education or you are forcing one of the parents to stay home. You are taking what has worked for many years away from us by not investing into the system and leaving the parents to fend for themselves.
What we immediately need is a universal child care system just like medicare and public schools where daycare spaces are publicly funded and provides every child in this province and country the opportunity for safe and quality educational childcare. There is a way to do it as this is not a new concept. Another idea is a top up system where parents’ fees are frozen and the government subsidizes the remainder so that we can keep the educators wages at a reasonable level and keep licensed group daycares open.
I really feel for the administration and child educators in this corridor and the entire province. Their job is not easy. They are truly gifted people who provide impeccable care and education for our children. Unfortunately, with the current childcare system, they won’t be around much longer.
There is a critical problem with childcare in this province…do what is honourable and fix it.
I have been in the Early Childhood field for the past 25 years. The experience as a parent and as an Educator has been a blessing and aggravating to say the least. In three different provinces the expectations for families varies. The major downfall in all these circumstances has been watching the family unit deteriorated for various reasons.
I believe and place great value working with children and families for a host of reasons. The first is supporting children and their families.
If families are successful and supported then we have productive children and supporting individuals who are contributing to society.
As a manager of a licensed facility I see and deal day after day with the frustration of parents who can not obtain subsidy because of the rigid expectations or that are made wait for approval which impacts their space in a centre.
Long wait list that force parents into taking space where they can find spaces, which can be a translate into a safety issue.
Child care rates that are rising to meet operating a child care centre and these increases do not offset the cost of maintaining high quality staff.
Increase cost of maintenance and services needed to ensure licensing standards.
I believe the solutions have been clearly outlined in the Smart Solutions for BC Families website. Let’s not reinvent the wheel is it possible for someone in government to take this situation seriously and make the changes so needed.
Let’s not use this issue as a campaign platform and once again see nothing being done.
I am an Early Childhood Educator who has been working in the field for the past 16 years. I am very dedicated to providing the best quality, reliable and affordable childcare programming for the children in my community. I am continually frustrated when I am turning children away because we do not have space in our programs or because we do not have qualified staff to open the spaces we do have. I am frustrated that as a non profit daycare my staff are paid far below what they are worth (some have not had a raise in the past 10 years) And I am frustrated that as a care provider I have to raise fees for services that some times are out of reach for many parents (often these are the parents that do not qualify for child care subsidy but must work to pay the bills) and increased fees put an additional strain on the whole family.
I would like to see a system that treats early childhood education as an important resource and service and allows all families equal access to services such as preschools, and daycare regardless of financial standing. I would like to see a system that provides on going funding for basic resources and equipment. I would like to see a system that values and respects our level of training and commitment to children. I would like to see a system that provides a fair working wage to child care providers. I would like to see a system were the decision makers really listen to the worker on the front lines and really hear what is important to us, children and families, so they stop trowing away money on surveys, one time initiatives and “new” services that have no impact and start focusing on the existing programs.