Excerpt

The recent $15/day child care sounds good, but it makes the rich richer and the poor poorer. The federal government allows provinces to dispense the child-care funding in their own way. Recently, the UCP has changed the dispensation strategy in Alberta.

Previously, the funding was dispensed two ways: One route was directly to registered child-care centers and homes, and the second was a subsidy paid to the child-care provider based on the individual child’s affordability needs. Children with lower household incomes were eligible for more subsidy. The poorest working families could potentially pay $0/month for child care, and while wealthier families still saw subsidy if they chose an eligible registered provider, they did not receive the affordability grants.

Recent child-care funding changes to a flat $15/day will yield about $326 a month per child. No matter who you are, you will pay the same amount. Wealthier families will see a financial break, while the most vulnerable families will see an increase in child-care costs up to $326 a month per child.

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