Support for move toward universal childcare supported by council...
by Timothy Schafer on Sunday August 25 2019
The province is moving towards the creation of a universal childcare plan and the city has moved to support that effort and becomes the 60th municipality to do so.
The city recently approved a resolution to advocate the province’s Child Care B.C. Caring for Kids, Lifting Up Families: The Path to Universal Child Care and recommended that B.C. “fully consider the recommendations from the $10-a-Day Plan and adopt them as it deemed appropriate.
The plan includes several solutions to address childcare issues in the province, identifying three major problems with the delivery of childcare in B.C.
The three problems identified are: the high cost of childcare; the lack of licensed childcare facilities; and, the low wages paid to early childhood educators.
“The plan proposes solutions to make childcare more affordable, accessible and of higher quality,” noted a city staff report to council.
In B.C. the Ministry of Children and Family Development administers childcare fee subsidies and funds certain service providers. The Ministry also registers early childhood education and funds local childcare resources and referral programs.
However, there is no one system of childcare and many providers operate independently.
Overall, the province has
The province has committed to over $1 billion for the next three years, including $237 million to implement “universal child care” and funding the creation of 22,000 new licensed childcare spaces.
The plan could lay the foundation for universal childcare — making childcare available and affordable for any family that wants or needs it — and moves away from the current patchwork of programs and services.
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