What's new at CRRU...
Last week, the CRRU team participated in What now for child care?, a two day policy symposium that gathered researchers, Indigenous experts, advocates and child care sector stakeholders from across Canada. The symposium was sponsored by Re-imagining care/work policies, a SSHRC Partnership Grant project, which focuses on the intersections between child care, parental leave and employment for diverse families. CRRU, a community partner on the project, was one of the organizers.
The event’s purpose was to take stock of how far we have come on the path to an early learning and child care system (having achieved the first benchmark of agreements with all provinces/territories, and to drill down on next steps in implementation). The symposium, designed to generate free-flowing, inclusive exchange of ideas, was organized by four main topics: Indigenous perspectives on building an ELCC system; Making ELCC truly affordable for families; Expanding availability of regulated child care; and Addressing the child care workforce crisis.
The Honourable Karina Gould, federal minister for Families, Children and Social Development addressed the symposium on the first day, reinforcing the need for all to work collaboratively to build a Canada-wide ELCC system, calling it a "nation-building project".
A webinar to further discuss the outcomes of the symposium and next steps in child care policy making, advocacy and research will be held later this summer. Symposium materials will soon be made publicly available.
Featured
Four ideas to make Quebec’s child-care system a model for all of Canada
Policy Options, 6 June 2022
In this article, Sophie Mathieu provides an overview of the “Quebec model” of early learning and child care and draws attention to aspects of Quebec's system that affect access to ELCC services for children and families. The author describes four ideas to transform Quebec's system into a model for all of Canada. The four ideas include: understanding the profile of children and families who do not use regulated child care; addressing the gaps in parental leave policies; and properly training and compensating staff for that training to address labour shortages in the sector without compromising quality of care.
CA: Early childhood educators: Shrinking workforce
The National, 13 June 2022
CA: We need more women in politics
The Hamilton Spectator, 7 June 2022
CA: Statistics Canada: 42% of parents postponed returning to work due to difficulties finding childcare
Benefits Canada, 5 June 2022
Research, policy and practice
Impact of early childcare on immigrant children’s educational performance
Economics of Education Review, 24 September 2021
This paper investigates cognitive outcomes of immigrant children attending regulated child care in Italy. Results suggest that cognitive effects differ between native Italian and immigrant children, suggesting a significantly positive effect on language scores and outcomes of immigrant children, especially those with low-educated mothers and with a home language other than Italian.
The impact of marriage & children on labour market participation
UN Women, 26 June 2020
Drawing on a global dataset and new demographic indicators, this publication shows how women’s employment is shaped by domestic and caregiving responsibilities in ways that men’s is not. New statistics show that childbearing, more than marriage, affects mother's labour force participation. The report concludes by listing three policy priorities to address the gender labour gap: statutory paid leave for both parents; access to high-quality affordable child care and elder care; and collection of better and more data.
Policy spotlight: Child care is foundational for economic recover
Policy Spotlight, 19 June 2020
This report examines the effects of the pandemic on Illinois child care centres and home child care providers in early 2020. Results suggest that the impacts of COVID-19 on child care determined the trajectory of the economy, indicating the importance of state and federal policies to support more accessible and affordable child care for a full economic recovery. Policy suggestions include bridging revenue for child care providers as they experience more restrictive capacity and lower demand due to COVID-19 and expanding the Child Care Assistance Program to address the cost of COVID-19 safety measures.
Do regulable features of child-care homes affect children’s development?
Early Childhood Research Quarterly, March 2002
This study assesses how regulatable features of home child care (e.g. caregiver education, training, and group size) affect the quality of children’s experiences. Results suggest that the quality of care was higher and the environment more stimulating when the caregivers were better educated and received more training and when the settings were in compliance with the recommended age-weighted group size. Therefore, the authors conclude that those features should be regulated to promote quality care in child care homes.
Child care in the news
NB: Happy parents, stressed daycare operators on first day of half-price child care
CBC News, 1 June 2022
QC: Petits ambassadeurs: sensibiliser les jeunes à l’agroalimentaire
Le Nouvelliste, 13 June 2022
QC: Parents protest in Quebec City to demand more daycare spaces
CTV News Montreal, 9 June 2022
QC: Services de garde: la valorisation de la formation collégiale réclamée par la CSQ
Le Nouvelliste, 29 May 2022
ON: Early childhood educators fed up and fleeing the job
CBC News, 13 June 2022
ON: Child care costs set to come down to $10-per-day by 2025 for parents of young children: Here's what you need to know
The Star, 10 June 2022
ON: Daycare operators wary about opting-in to $10/day child-care program
CityNews, 9 June 2022
ON: 'It keeps me up at night': Child-care providers in Ontario unsure if they will opt in to federal plan
National Post, 8 June 2022
BC: Club ready to run 200 new child care spaces in Vernon
Vernon Morning Star, 7 June 2022
NT: GNWT yet to set childcare fee increase cap for year ahead
Cabin Radio, 6 June 2022
US: Can child care and pre-K help reduce inflation?
Brookings, 2 June 2022
US: Childcare insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic frequently led to employment disruptions
News Medical, 13 June 2022
US: Child care industry struggling two years into the pandemic
US News, 10 May 2022
UK: UK childcare costs soar by more than £2,000 in a decade, TUC says
The Guardian, 13 June 2022
UK: Business needs a better childcare system
Financial Times, 7 June 2022
AU: The grandparents who help keep mothers at work, but at a cost
Financial Review, 10 June 2022
Event
Entry level options for career in early learning
Opportunity Place - Nova Scotia, 5 July 2022
This information session is an opportunity for those interested in a career in early childhood education to learn about current and future entry level options in the province of Nova Scotia. Participants will get an overview of roles and responsibilities of early learning practitioners with the key requirements for employment and learn how to access the Nova Scotia Early Learning Curriculum Framework and the Educators Guide.
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