Affordable childcare hot topic

Government officials heard firsthand just how important affordable childcare is to families in the central region, and were even presented with a model to follow to ensure this is possible.
With approximately 20 people in attendance with a vested interest in affordable childcare last Tuesday, the parents' committee of NewFunLand Daycare's five facilities in central Newfoundland discussed the affects the province's upcoming minimum wage increase will have on childcare.
"This was a much larger group than we anticipated, so it certainly showed us that the topic is a major concern," said parent committee representative Ann Noel, adding this parent group, which acts as a liaison between the parents and owner of the facilities, is the only one of its kind in the region, but such groups are much more common in larger centres such as St. John's.
Ms. Noel said the big issue was government's plans to increase the minimum wage in the province to $9.50 per hour on Jan. 2, followed by a jump to $10 per hour on July 1. The group told Bonavista-Gander-Grand Falls-Windsor MP Scott Simms and Lewisporte MHA Wade Verge, such an increase would result in childcare facilities having to increase its rates in order to operate, and thus the wage increase would be passed down to the parents requiring childcare services. Gander MHA Kevin O'Brien had also been invited to attend, but was unable to do so due to illness, while a representative from the regional Department of Child Youth Family Services also sat in on the meeting.
"When this occurs, it's going to mean some tough decisions for a lot of parents, especially the middle class ones, on whether or not to put their child or children in childcare or to remain home with them - possibly leaving the workforce to do so," she said, noting there is government funding available for the lower income families to avail of, while the higher income families don't usually have these financial concerns.
"We want to make sure childcare is affordable to all, and for a number of reasons."
According to Ms. Noel, the government officials listened while several parents spoke about what felt were underlying concerns if there was no sort of subsidized childcare in the province, including crippling the workforce, affects on a child's social skill development, or mental health issues arising for some of those having to leave workforce or stay-at-home each day.
The group also presented facts from two other provinces and how they subsidize childcare to make it affordable.
"We compared ourselves to Quebec, which at present offers childcare to every family for the cost of $7 a day - the rest is subsidized by the government," said Ms. Noel, adding Manitoba families pay $17 per day before subsidies.
Ms. Noel said she doesn't expect anything to happen overnight, and this is definitely not an issue with increasing the minimum wage - it's the affects such an increase will have versus affordable childcare if something isn't done.
"We took baby steps on Tuesday, and there's many more to come," said Ms. Noel. "The committee will help keep this issue going. We're going to draft a letter with our points to pass along to the provincial government, and Mr. Verge said he would take our issue back to the different ministers.
"It's not going to happen right away, but we certainly want them (government officials) to start to talk about affordable childcare and subsidization."