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Something fell off the radar screen in the last election: Our children.
Discussions of national child-care policy and early childhood education mostly evaporated when the markets crashed. But in tough times, support for young families is one of the best long-term investments Canada can make. (And I'm not talking about a token, souped up "baby bonus").
Companies understand their ability to attract and retain workers, particularly young women, depends on support for working parents. More than 65 per cent of women with children under the age of five work outside the home, fuelling an acute need for quality options.
Last week, an Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) study reminded us that the gap between rich and poor in Canada has increased dramatically over the last 10 years. Hardest hit? Young people and families with children. Canada is now below average among high-income countries in its social investments.
Investments in early childhood education and child care fuel economic and social development. They allow parents to choose to enter the labour force and improve their prospects.
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Many ask "Can we can afford the investment?" The better question, according to economists Gordon Cleveland and Michael Krashinsky, is "can we afford not?" Their cost/benefit analysis of child care concluded that we spend far less on young children than on older children, despite evidence that "the education of young children has greater payoff than dollars spent on the same children when they are older."
Of course, we must not penalize parents who choose to stay home with their children, often at great cost (which, at least for me, was tougher than working for pay). And we need to find ways to direct resources to the people who need them most. But this should not distract us from action.
The issues should be burning concerns, not just to parents of young children or advocates, but to political and business leaders.
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Indeed, they should matter to us all.
- reprinted from the Metro