Highlights

Women are essential to the economy. Now is the time for action to close the gender pay gap
Ontario Equal Pay Coalition, 6 April 2021
The Ontario Equal Pay Coalition has released their open letter to Premier Doug Ford and his government to mark Equal Pay Day 2021 (April 7th, 2021). The open letter asks that the provincial government take immediate action to put women’s work at the centre of Ontario’s economic recovery. The open letter calls on the government to legislate paid sick days, implement a universal and accessible child care system with decent pay and decent work for child care workers, increase minimum wage and invest in social infrastructure. 

Roadmap for $10-a-day child care in BC
Coalition of Child Care Advocates of BC & Early Childhood Educators of BC, Spring 2021
The $10-a-day Roadmap outlines how BC’s government can deliver on key child care commitments made in the 2020 provincial election. The Roadmap builds on the principles in the $10-a-day plan and provides concrete policy and funding strategies for two parallel paths: one that supports the transition of current providers into $10-a-day programs; the other that creates new $10-a-day services in a systematic way. The Roadmap has been put forward in full support of the rights of First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples to design, develop, and deliver early care and learning services that meet their needs and acknowledge that Indigenous communities have and may evolve services in directions other than those outlined in this Roadmap, creating models to learn from and strive for.

Child care is too expensive. What if it were free?
VOX, 2 April 2021
This article explains systemic issues –  low pay, low recognition, inefficient use of tax dollars – in the US child care system which fails to ensure the livelihood of the workforce as well as accessibility and quality of services for many children and families. The key solution recommended is to fund and deliver child care as a public good not only to elevate the profession but also to guarantee that services are accessible for all regardless of their income, employment, or location. 

Research, policy and practice

Another poorly conceived child care proposal from C.D Howe
Child Care Policy, 31 March 2021
In this policy brief, Cleveland explains the deficiency in a proposal published by the C.D Howe Institute based on refundable tax credits, space expansion through increased operating and capital grants to licensed providers, and a permanent federal transfer of funds to the provinces and territories. The proposal is criticized for the misconception that tax credits can solve the affordability problem and failure to recognize the importance of operating grants in ensuring affordability and quality of services as well as the role of the federal government in ensuring that funding goes towards achieving high-quality, affordable and accessible child care in all jurisdictions. 

Survey on early learning and child care arrangements, 2020
Statistics Canada, 7 April 2021
Using data from a crowd-sourced survey, Statistics Canada finds that 52% of children under six were in regulated or unregulated care from November 2020 to January 2021. This figure is down from 60% in 2019 but much higher than in June 2020, when only 10% of parents reported using child care. For parents who were not using child care and who reported having had difficulty finding care, 59% said the difficulty was finding affordable care, while 43% had had difficulty finding care during the pandemic.

Yukon poverty report card 2020
Campaign 2000, 25 March 2021
This report provides an update on poverty statistics and anti-poverty initiatives in Yukon, and gives recommendations and policy proposals to improve the health and wellness of children and families. Recommendations include moving forward with the creation of a territory-wide universal low fee child care program. 

What’s causing the shortage of qualified early care and education teachers? 
Center for the Study of Child Care Employment, 11 February 2020
This infographic shows how professional development investments are inefficient as poverty-level wages drive qualified early childhood educators out of the field. The infographic provides strategies to address and fix the leak by increasing compensation through public investment.

Child care in the news 

CA: No recovery without a she-covery: Calls mount for targeted support for women
Global News, 6 April 2021

PEI: Education minister pressed on pre-kindergarten plan
CBC News, 6 April 2021

ON: London's first-ever Indigenous child care centre gears up for summer opening
CBC News, 2 April 2021

ON: Niagara to begin vaccinating frontline child care and education workers over April Break
Niagara Region, 6 April 2020

MB: Manitoba needs to spend more to heal from pandemic-impaired economy
CBC News, 6 April 2021

MB: Education reform excludes some children
Winnipeg Free Press, 6 April 2021

AB: Question period: MLA Rakhi Pancholi on $25/day child care pilot
Twitter/Legislative Assembly of Alberta, 6 April 2021

BC: Richmond aims to create thousands of new child care spaces by 2031
Richmond News, 4 April 2021

BC: Parents struggle to navigate in-person school, child care amid B.C.’s surging 3rd wave
Campbell River Mirror, 6 April 2021

Events