Excerpt
Executive summary
The vision for flexible child care
Since 2018, and with substantial support from the federal government, the Province of British Columbia has been working to build a universal $10aDay child care system. The stated vision is for “all families [to] have access to high-quality, affordable, flexible and inclusive early learning and child care no matter where they live.”
In this vision, “flexible” means access to care outside of typical Monday-to-Friday, 9-to-5 schedules — including “non-standard hours” and “flexible scheduling” options like drop-in care. In other words, BC and Canada’s vision is for families to have access to child care when they need it.
Why delaying action would be inequitable, unnecessary, and unwise
While measurable progress has been made towards this overall vision, much work remains to stabilize and expand “standard hours” licensed child care. As a result, many question the feasibility — or priority — of advancing non-standard hours and flexibly scheduled care. But delaying action would be inequitable, unnecessary and unwise:
- Inequitable, because many of those most in need of flexible care — including single parents, parents working multiple jobs, low-income families, and immigrant and racialized communities — already face structural disadvantages. Delaying action that would better serve these families would reinforce structural inequities.
- Unnecessary, because the actions required to advance non-standard hours and flexibly scheduled care are: (a) the same as those required to effectively advance all types of care; (b) not overly complicated; and/or (c) cost-effective, in that they more precisely align supply with demand and avoid other significant downstream costs — such as those related to workforce shortages in health care, the trades, and other sectors.
- Unwise, both technically and politically. Technically, because we’ve learned in BC that it is far better to develop integrated policy early vs. tacking on one-off adjustments, later. And politically, because failure to address the need for flexible child care risks undermining public confidence in the entire child care system.
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