Child Care in BC Small, Rural & Remote

Communities

Overview

ü Child Care Chaos • Community’s Solution • Government Action • UBCM / CCCABC Project

EarlyYears:Intensivebraindevelopment,caringrequirements,parentingdemandsYetweakpublicpolicysupportrelativeto:•  otheragegroups•  peernations

Canada Ranks Last: UNICEF

Lack of Access for Families

575,000children

363,800mothersintheworkforce

106,400regulatedchildcarespaces

Unaffordable for Families $600to$1100+month

Upto$2200permonthperspaceinsomecommunities

Highfeesdon’tmeanhighwagesforearlychildhoodeducators!

EDI •  EarlyDevelopmentInstrumentmeasuredbyUBCispopulationhealthofall5yearsoldsinBC

•  Vulnerabilityscales:Physical,Social,Emotional,Language,&Communication

•  Provincialaverage=32.2%of5yearoldsarevulnerableononeormoreofthescales

Families – 1976 to 2014

Overview

• Child Care Chaos ü Community’s Solution • Government Action • UBCM / CCCABC Project

Highlights of $10aDay Plan •  Early Care and

Learning Act •  Indigenous

Approach to Indigenous ECE

•  Move Child Care to Ministry of Education

•  Fees capped at $10aDay

•  No fees for families with annual incomes less that $40,000

•  ECE wages average of $25/hr

•  Invest in education of ECE workforce

Early Care & Learning in Education Ministry

New Zealand, Spain, Slovenia, England, Scotland, Brazil, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, France, Italy, Belgium, Austria, Germany, Finland In Canada Ontario, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, Saskatchewan, Nunavut, NWT, Newfoundland & Labrador First Nations in BC

Economists are New Allies! Heckman, Legarde, Alexander, Ivanova

Benefits to the BC Economy

An estimated:

•  17,189 more working women •  $667 million more in taxes collected •  26,000 Early Childhood Educators better paid •  $610 million saved by business •  $685 million saved by families Dr. Paul Kershaw, New Deal for Families 2011 & Kershaw, Anderson GenSqueeze 2013

Can We Afford $10aDay? YES!

It will significantly increase the workforce participation of mothers of young children, grow BC’s economy by $3.9 billion per year, and generate about $1.3 billion in revenues for the provincial and federal governments. Economist Iglika Ivanova Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives 2015

Socio-Economic Impact Analysis

The increase to GDP is close to 2% or $5.787 billion on full implementation, employment increases by 2.8 per cent, or 69,100 net new FTE jobs Fairholm and Anderson, 2016

What about Quebec? Quebec system

more than pays for itself Dr. Pierre Fortin

Economics Professor at University of Quebec

The number of single-parent families on welfare dropped, from 99,000 in 1996 to 45,000 in 2008.

2 Million Supporters & Growing •  49 municipal / regional governments •  31 School Districts •  Credit Unions and United Way •  UBCM, Boards of Trade, Chambers of Commerce •  Union of BC Indian Chiefs •  Academics, Community, Labour, Business and

Women’s organizations •  Early Childhood Development experts •  18,300+ petition signers

Political Support All 3 major political parties in BC are now committed to significant investment into child care: •  BCNDP government committed $1 billion in

their February 2018 Budget •  BC Liberals committed $1 billion in their June

2017 Throne Speech •  BC Greens voted in favour of government

spending on child care

Overview

• Child Care Chaos • Community’s Solution ü Government Action • UBCM / CCCABC Project

Federal Liberal Government

$51million/year for BC -new spaces -prototype funding -Indigenous-led programs -supported child care -young parent programs

What’s Happening Now?

Affordability for Families 1.FeeReductionGrant–April2018• ReduceITparentfeesbyupto$350amonth• Reduce3-5parentfeesbyupto$100amonth

2.AffordabilityBenefit–September2018• ReduceITfeesbyupto$1250amonth• Familieseligibleupto$111,000annually• Nofeesunder$45,000

New Licensed Spaces

22,000newlicensedspacesin3years

• Upto$1millionperfacilitytopublicsectorpartnershipswithnon-profitchildcareproviders• Upto$500,000perfacilitytoschoolboards,Indigenouscommunities,ChildDevelopmentCentres,andnot-for-profitchildcareproviders• Upto$250,000perfacilitytoprivatechildcareproviders.

Quality

InvestintheECEWorkforce•  Comprehensivework-forcestrategy•  $1/hrforEarlyChildhoodEducatorsstartingSept2018and$1/hrforApril2020

•  BursariesavailableforECEstudents•  Morepost-secondaryECEcoursesavailableUpto$4500tomovefromunlicensedtoLicensed

Overview

• Child Care Chaos • Community’s Solution • Government Action ü UBCM / CCCABC Project

UBCM / CCCABC Project Working together to better understand child care needs in small, rural and remote communities: •  Asking about specific issues that arise •  Survey to local governments had 62 responses •  Six in-person interviews with local

governments, and others, in the Peace River/Northeast region

Recommendations 1. Educate and hire locals for child care positions 2. Encourage all colleges to offer the diploma ECE program using distance-education and on-line learning as much as possible. 3. Incentivize students to undertake a practicum in a small, rural or remote community, as part of their ECE training. 4. Provide financial supports or incentives, such as a northern allowance, to encourage qualified child care staff to move to small, rural, remote and northern communities. 5. Allow for regional considerations in the universal Child Care BC Plan, in order to recognize the challenges for resource dependent communities.

Recommendations 6. Create child care spaces for shift workers, weekend workers, those who work non-traditional hours, and those who require flexible, irregular care. 7. Provide enhanced operational funding for child care facilities to reduce costs and assist in regional fluctuations in the economy. 8. Improve communication and education for parents and unlicensed care providers, to assist them in transitioning to licensed care providers. 9. Work with the Ministry of Education to provide transportation from school grounds to school-age care facilities, particularly in the winter months. 10.Provide sustained funding, above and beyond grants, to local governments who have contributed public land, services or other investments for child care.

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