The Union Forum - July-Aug 2008 - Fishermen, Food and Allied Workers

It’s that time of year children either dread or anticipate
depending on how good a student they’ve been.
For tens of thousands of school-aged children across the
province, June is report-card time.
For the provincial and federal governments, it was a
report card of a different kind.
The Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) as part of its
women’s equality campaign measured the performance of
governments in providing accessible, affordable and quality
child care and early learning programs.
Summer time is especially worrisome for parents who
struggle to find child care programs for their kids. In many
areas, the waiting lists are several times longer than the
number of spaces available.
The CLC evaluation is based on affordability, or how
much child care costs. It’s based on quality, which is measured
by the wages paid to child
care staff. And, it’s based on
accessibility - the number and
the availability of public child
care spaces.
The federal government
received a very unsatisfactory
“incomplete” on its report card.
This is, after all, the same
government that cancelled child
care agreements with the
provinces, gutting $3.7 billion
from early learning and child
care programs and services.
Newfoundland and Labrador
lost more than $50 million as a
result of the cancellation of the agreements – money that
would certainly have improved child care services throughout
the province.
The Newfoundland and Labrador government’s
received a grade of “C+” on its report card.
Compared to other provinces – with the exception of
Quebec, which, when it comes to child care is in a league
of its own, and Manitoba, which has been investing substantially
in building its own not-for-profit, state-of-the-art
child care system – this province is not doing too badly.
But that’s largely because all other provinces are doing
so poorly.
The provincial government has made some improvements
and investments in child care over the past several
years, but our government still isn’t getting the job done for
working parents when it comes to child care services.
And if you live in rural Newfoundland and Labrador,
the child care landscape is largely vacant.
With respect to affordability, child care in
By Lana Lana Payne
Child care should be child’s play
“In light of the economic boom
facing our province these days,
it is imperative that government
take steps now, to build a child care
system that works for the
province. Our future economic
success relies on our ability
to attract and keep workers
in our province.”
Newfoundland and Labrador is very expensive, and the
provincial government has not made any move to put a cap
on parent fees.
Fees increased 20 per cent per year between 1998 and
2003. And they have continued to climb since then.
For example: if you have a child in regulated infant
care, the cost is $50 a day or $250 a week or $13,000 a
year. If you happen to have two children in regulated care,
you might be paying as much as $400 weekly or over
$20,000 annually.
Although the regulations and laws governing child care
in our province are very good, our government also has
work to do in the area of quality.
Training, good wages and working conditions are crucial
in order to attract and retain highly skilled and professional
early childhood educators. While the government
has made some efforts to improve the wages and benefits
of early childhood educators, there
is still a long way to go. Many still
make less than $10 an hour.
In the area of accessibility, our
government can also do better. It’s
an undeniable fact: the vast majority
of today’s moms are working moms
– 70 per cent of them are in the
labour force.
Yet, despite this clear demand
for services, only eight per cent of
children in NL had access to a regulated
child care space in 2006. (The
latest year for which data is available)
Access to affordable child care is
vital for today’s working parents, especially moms who
need or want to work outside the home or to participate in
training or upskilling. It’s vital for women’s economic
equality.
In light of the economic boom facing our province these
days, it is imperative that government take steps now, to
build a child care system that works for the province. Our
future economic success relies on our ability to attract and
keep workers in our province.
We can win the competition for workers by investing in
programs and services that support people while they work.
The provincial government has said it wants to make
Newfoundland and Labrador an attractive place to live and
work — a first-rate child care and early learning system is
a good place to start.
Lana Payne works in Research and Communications for
FFAW/CAW and is First vice-president of the
Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Labour.
July/August 2008 The Union Forum 35