Ottawa’s takeover of B.C. child care hasn’t helped families
The mission of the Coalition of Child Care Advocates of B.C. (CCCABC) is to advocate for $10-a-day government child care, which the provincial NDP and federal Liberal governments have promised to deliver. Its political campaigning for increasing government control of child care is partly funded by — what a coincidence! — a federal government looking to increase its control in this policy area: “The Coalition of Child Care Advocates of B.C. acknowledges the support of Women and Gender Equality Canada,” its website discloses.
It has now been three years since the B.C. government signed on to Ottawa’s childcare agreement, and the federal Liberals boast that since then, “we have made great progress in supporting families, creating new spaces, and supporting the workforce.” Yet, as a poll just released by those government-supported activists for government child care in B.C. shows, families aren’t well supported by the government takeover of child care at all.
According to the poll, 84 per cent of B.C. families with young children (i.e., aged one to 12) either strongly agree
(52 per cent) or moderately agree (32 per cent) that “long waiting lists are still a problem for families who need child care.” Among parents who have used child care in B.C., 39 per cent say that for their youngest child the wait time before a child care space became available was more than six months, including 15 per cent who say it was more than two years.
To make matters worse, the families who are poorest and who need child care most are the ones with the least access. Among parents who currently have a young child, 43 per cent report waiting over six months and 19 per cent over two years; among households with annual income under $50,000, 49 per cent report a wait time over six months and 25 per cent a wait time over two years.
Also contradicting the Liberal claim that the government takeover has helped parents get back to work: 67 per cent of parents who used child care agreed with the statement, “A parent had to remain away from work for a longer period following the end of parental leave because child care was unavailable.” Further evidence that the poorest families are worst served by the government’s child care takeover is that this figure rose to 71 per cent for households with incomes under $50,000.
Again, when asked if they or anyone they personally knew had benefited from access to $10-a-day child care, only 20 per cent of British Columbians answered “Yes.” And responses divided along clear income lines: only 16 per cent of families with annual household incomes under $50,000 said they or someone they knew had benefited, compared to 29 per cent of those with incomes above $100,000.
According to other poll responses, 80 per cent said it is important that the provincial government “continues to deliver on its commitment to build a quality, flexible $10-a-day child care system that’s accessible to families across B.C.” But in addition to the misleading phrase “continues to deliver” (which suggests good progress to date), the question is worded to prompt people to agree the government should continue down its current path. Of course everyone wants quality, flexible, cheap, accessible daycare. As opposed to what? That the provincial government deliver low-quality, inflexible, inaccessible child care?
Other leading questions include asking people whether they agree or disagree that “Investing in child care is beneficial to the economy” or that “All new child care facilities in B.C. should be built to be climate resilient.” Unsurprisingly, the poll finds a large majority are in agreement with these statements, but again: obviously people will agree daycare centres should be “climate resilient.” As opposed to what? Having daycare centres crumble to the ground on a windy day? And might people’s responses be different if they learned just how much more it costs to build to federal standards of climate resiliency?
When polling about support for a government program, how questions are worded matters a lot. A survey done two years ago for the Fraser Institute found 69 per cent of Canadians supported a national $10-a-day daycare program, but when they were presented with the taxpayer cost of such a program in terms of GST increase, respondents’ support plummeted to 36 per cent.
Despite its leading questions, one thing the CCCABC’S latest poll does show clearly is that British Columbia’s governmentalization of child care has produced terrible outcomes, particularly for the poorest households.
In its announcement reporting these poll results, the CCCABC “gratefully acknowledges the support of Employment and Social Development Canada.” That’s in addition to its website acknowledgment of support from Women and Gender Equality Canada. Just how many federal departments are supporting this organization’s $10-a-day activism?
THE FAMILIES WHO ... NEED CHILD CARE MOST ARE THE ONES WITH THE LEAST ACCESS.