EXCERPTS:
Calgary experts say a recent Federal Court ruling highlights the shortage of child care, especially for parents who do shift work.
Joanne Baxter, with Child and Youth Studies at Mount Royal University, says parents have to make it up as they go.
"Finding child care out of traditional hours, so 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. [or] 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., is almost impossible," Baxter says. "You know, maybe mom's available this time and dad's available this time and then a family member another time or the neighbour down the street, and it is a patchwork."
Baxter says Canada needs universal child care, similar to the way education is funded.
Kim Lee, with the Alberta Family Child Care Association, says not many day homes offer a variety of hours or care on the weekends.
"We have a huge demand for it and we probably only have 30 per cent of our caregivers that will do the shift care," Lee explained.
Meera Nathwani-Crowe is a mother of three who says it takes a long time to find a day care spot. She also says the costs are astronomical.
"Single moms who are working shift work who don't have the same flexibility with their employer and the same income to apply child care - I think this high child-care cost forces a lot of women out of the workplace," she says.
-reprinted from CBC News