See text below.
EXCERPTS
New Brunswick has forgotten the needs of working mothers and should consider providing universal day care for the province's children, says the New Brunswick Advisory Council on the Status of Women.
Growing Up Female in New Brunswick 1970-2000, the council's latest research report, shows that two-thirds of women with children under the age of 16 in the province are working full time.
Many of those 103,365 women are working because they have to support their families and not because they want to, council chairwoman Lucille Riedle said.
"I've seen nothing to show that we're making a conscious effort to address the working mom," Riedle said.
The report indicates many of the women are single parents who are working for wages that are below the $18,000 poverty line.
The report recommends the establishment of a universal day-care system in the province.
"A high-quality, flexible and affordable child-care system available to all New Brunswick families would ensure that society reaps the long-term social benefits of early childhood development," the study said.
-Reprinted from The Guardian (Charlottetown)