EXCERPTS
Parents and their supporters are once again trying to draw attention to affordable childcare.
The Coalition of Child Care Advocates of B.C. has been pushing for a $10 a day plan.
Today, the so-called "stroller brigade" was out on Commercial Drive to try to drive that point home again.
The coalition argues that nonprofit childcare is a public service like education and health care. And therefore, it must be publicly funded and held publicly accountable.
The coalition's plan calls for $10 a day for full-time childcare and $7 a day for part-time childcare with no user fees on families with annual incomes lower than $40,000.
It suggests that the additional cost would be $1.5 billion annually for kids under the age of six.
The coalition argues that the cost of doing nothing is higher on society and the economy. It cites research by UBC professors Paul Kershaw and Lynell Anderson showing that "work-life conflict among employees with preschool age children costs BC businesses in excess of $600 million per year, including turnover, absenteeism, and health care premiums".
- reprinted from The Georgia Straight