Posted by Sharon Gregson · October 25, 2016 6:06 PM
Les Leyne: Universality sticking point for child care
OCTOBER 25, 2016
Ten bucks a day for child care is an enormously appealing proposition for thousands of B.C. families now paying 10 times that or more for it.
But making it available to the wealthy as well as low-income earners might be one of the sticking points for the major election campaign statement NDP Leader John Horgan made last week.
He served notice the Opposition will be campaigning for a $10-a-day child-care program that is universally available. It’s the most definitive position yet on a topic that the NDP has taken varying positions on over the years. In fact, it’s the most definitive statement Horgan has made as leader in terms of what the party will be advancing as the election campaign begins to take shape.
The idea goes back to a concept that was just taking shape in the final days of the last NDP government, in 2001. Former premier Ujjal Dosanjh pitched a $14-a-day program that would have more than doubled the existing subsidy budget, to $400 million a year, with a federal contribution folded in. It didn’t swing the subsequent election results. The NDP were routed. The B.C. Liberals cancelled the plan in short order, keying on the waste of money represented by universality.
Horgan said last week the 15 years of Liberal government since then have created a child-care crisis. Parents are paying some of the highest fees in the country and child care is the second-highest cost to families, after housing. Apart from the obvious popularity in the young-families demographic, he cited the economic impact as another selling point.
“Lack of affordable quality child care prevents parents from participating in the labour force.” Various studies cite the high costs as a drag on the economy.
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Posted by Sharon Gregson · October 25, 2016 6:03 PM
MLA Report: B.C. child care costs must be more affordable
- Lana Popham - Saanich News
- posted Oct 25, 2016 at 11:00 AM
Anyone who has raised children knows it is very challenging. The first five years before kindergarten are especially demanding for parents as they try to give kids the full-time high-quality care they need while at the same time earn the money the family requires to get by. If you are a single parent or don’t have a lot of resources or family support this can become an almost impossible workload.
It is well accepted that strategic government investment in young children creates a lifetime of benefits not just for those children but also for the society and economy as a whole. Making sure children get a good start in life benefits us all.
Regrettably Premier Christy Clark and the B.C. Liberal government have a long history of failing children who need help. This painful fact is evident when it comes to affordable child care in B.C.
You don’t need to take my word for it. Even the B.C. Chamber of Commerce has called out the B.C. Liberal government on this issue, noting that child care costs in B.C. continue to increase year after year while the availability of the needed services is decreasing. In their 2016/2017 Policy and Position Manual, the chamber makes an economic argument: the government should invest in child care because the economy as a whole benefits with more people in the workforce. First Call, a child and youth advocacy coalition, estimates that every public dollar invested in child care generates a return of $2.54 to our economy and that investing in the child care sector has a bigger job multiplier effect than in any other sector.
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Posted by Sharon Gregson · October 25, 2016 6:00 PM
NDP vows to raise taxes on the rich to pay for $10-a-day childcare if elected
Published on: October 20, 2016 in The Vancouver Sun
Speaking to media Wednesday at the Terry Tayler Early Learning & Care Centre in East Vancouver, B.C. NDP leader John Horgan said if his party defeats the Liberals in May 2017, it will continue a temporary tax hike in order to provide “available, accessible and affordable” childcare provincewide.
“The challenges are immense and they’re not just about social policy,” Horgan said. “This is about the economy. Women are not getting back into the workforce after they have children because they can’t find a place for their children to be cared for. It’s an impact on the economy, it’s an impact on families and quality of life, and we need to do something about that.”
Horgan said that providing $10-a-day childcare would cost $1.5 billion annually. Horgan said it could be paid for by a temporary tax introduced in the Liberal government’s 2013 budget — a two-year increase in the personal income tax rate for those earning more than $150,000 a year. The rate was increased to 16.8 per cent from 14.7 per cent for 2014 and 2015 only.
It was expected to pull in an additional $412 million from the top two per cent of earners over three fiscal years.
A B.C. NDP government would continue that tax to help pay for the childcare program, Horgan’s press secretary, Sheena McConnell, confirmed after the press conference Wednesday.
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Posted by Sharon Gregson · October 25, 2016 5:43 PM
John Horgan's childcare promise suggests B.C. NDP is more eager to court progressive vote
In recent provincial elections, traditional B.C. NDP supporters have sometimes chafed over the party's conservatism.
In 2001, then leader Ujjal Dosanjh centred his campaign around a balanced budget and sound fiscal management. He was slaughtered.
In 2005, the opposition party focused again on balancing the books rather than investing in public transit. Then leader Carole James revived the party, but didn't form the government.
In 2009, the B.C. NDP ran a high-profile campaign against the carbon tax, which had been welcomed by many environmentalists. Another loss.
Then in 2013, then leader Adrian Dix refused to support a $10-per-day childcare program, upsetting some members of the party's base. Other social activists condemned the party platform for failing to address the affordable-housing crisis. Chalk up another B.C. NDP defeat.
Well, guess what? It's starting to appear as though Dix's successor, John Horgan, isn't going to be nearly as cautious in next year's provincial election campaign.
This week, the B.C. NDP leader endorsed a $10-per-day childcare program, which has been advocated by many municipalities, labour organizations, academics, and nonprofit groups across the province.
“After housing, child care is the second-highest cost facing B.C. families," Horgan said in a B.C. NDP news release. "Parents here are paying some of the highest child care fees in the country. Too many parents can’t find child care and spend years on waitlists."
The B.C. NDP announcement has been welcomed by former Vancouver school trustee Sharon Gregson, a tireless advocate for better childcare.
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Posted by Sharon Gregson · October 25, 2016 5:34 PM
B.C. NDP promises child care for $10 a day
NDP leader John Horgan called the lack of affordable childcare in the province a crisis
CBC News Posted: Oct 20, 2016 9:38 AM PT
B.C.'s NDP is promising a $10-a-day child-care program if they win the upcoming provincial election in May.
Leader John Horgan said the program would counteract years of under-funding by the B.C. Liberals.
"We can liberate women largely to participate fully in the economy and we can ensure employers that productivity is going to go up because there is a less concern about the patchwork child care that most families have to weave together," he said.
Horgan pointed out wait lists are reaching dire lengths, noting in Vancouver some daycares already have up to 3,000 children on their wait list.
"When people say they can't afford to have children, I think that's something we should act upon," he said.
A 2015 Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives study said B.C. businesses were losing as much as $600 million per year because parents were forced to abandon paid work because of a lack of affordable childcare.
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Posted by Sharon Gregson · October 25, 2016 5:29 PM
CTV News Vancouver Island
B.C. New Democrat Leader John Horgan has pledged to address the province's lack of affordable child care if his party is elected next spring.
Horgan is promising a $10-per-day universal child care program for B.C. to correct what he says is a provincial crisis.
“Women are not getting back into the workforce after they have children because they can’t find a place for their children to be cared for,” Horgan said while speaking at a Vancouver daycare Wednesday. “It’s an impact on the economy, it’s an impact on families and quality of life, and we need to do something about that.”
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Posted by Sharon Gregson · October 25, 2016 5:15 PM
By John Horgan in The South Asian Link, October 22, 2016
Leader, B.C. New Democrats
VICTORIA—You shouldn’t have to win the lottery to raise a child in British Columbia. But every year, quality, accessible child care gets closer to becoming an option for only the rich and the lucky.
Christy Clark thinks that’s acceptable. I disagree. That’s why this week I announced that a New Democrat government will invest in affordable, universal child care and work towards a $10-a-day child care program. For years, parents in this province have struggled to find quality child care that they can afford, and called for change from Christy Clark. Instead, the premier stood by while child care became exclusive, expensive and inaccessible.
Today, we’re facing a child care crisis. Christy Clark just wants to look the other way. I don’t. I know we need to do the right thing and act today – for our kids, for our families, and for our economy.
If you’re a parent in this province, chances are you’re already struggling with the affordability crisis that’s devastating family budgets, and forcing families out of regions like Metro Vancouver.
And if you’re a parent with a child in child care, chances are you pay more for that one bill than for any other expense, with the exception of housing costs.
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Posted by Sharon Gregson · October 04, 2016 3:56 PM
NDP leader John Horgan proposes $10-a-day childcare if elected
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Posted by Sharon Gregson · October 04, 2016 3:31 PM
B.C.'s child-care squeeze 'so much more stressful than it has ever been'
By Tiffany Crawford
Published on: September 24, 2016 in the Vancouver Sun
Jamie Garrett, an east Vancouver mother of two school-age children, often feels like she works just to pay for child care.
Ironically, the 38-year-old single mom is employed in early childhood learning, spending her days taking care of other people’s kids until she can pick up her own — an eight-year-old son and 11-year-old daughter — in after-school care at 5:30 p.m.
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Posted by Danielle Davis · August 31, 2016 6:30 PM
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