Excerpts
Nova Scotia has made progress on meeting the goals of the federal-provincial agreement on child care, but still has room for improvement, a new report says.
The report from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives Nova Scotia, released today, says the province has fallen short on fee reductions, the creation of new spaces and working conditions for early childhood educators.
"While many of those targets have been met, child care remains unaffordable and inaccessible for many families, and ECEs are still undervalued and underpaid," the report says.
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Many families still paying higher fees
Report co-author Kenya Thompson says for those lucky families who have been able to access regulated daycare supported by the agreement, it has made a huge difference for affordability.
"We've talked to families who have, you know, instead of putting down like basically a second mortgage every month on child-care fees, they're paying an affordable amount," she said.
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Families still 'desperate' for spaces
Thompson said although many new spaces have been created, it's difficult to track exactly how many are for full-time daycare, as the province's numbers combine those spots with before-and-after-school spots.
Thompson pointed out those types of care are anything but interchangeable.
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Improvements for educators
Thompson said while Nova Scotia made the "awesome" decision to introduce a defined benefits and pension program for ECEs, becoming the first province to do so, working conditions could still improve in the sector.
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Political reaction
In response to the report, the NDP's critic for education and early childhood development, Paul Wozney, said it's clear the child-care system is not working for many families.
"Despite the Houston government’s big promises to reach $10-a-day child care by March, some families in Nova Scotia are still paying more than $35 a day — that’s over $8,000 a year," Wozney said in a statement.
"This is money parents could be using for groceries, rent, and keeping the lights on, instead of paying significantly more for child care than families in other Canadian provinces."
Wozney added that the government is "blurring the lines" on how many spaces it has created, "ignoring the fact that more than 1,650 spaces have been lost in the last two years alone."
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