$10-a-Day for All
Our $10-a-Day for All advocacy supports the completion of BC’s $10-a-Day childcare system to ensure adequate, quality childcare and before-and-after school care for all children in BC. $10-a-Day for All is mobilized and led by families, parents, and caregivers impacted by a lack of access to childcare. Our A Whole Life: The Impact of $10-a-Day Child Care on the Health and Well-being of Low-Income Lone Mothers report reveals that while $10-a-day child care is life-changing for low-income lone mothers in BC, access remains limited and uneven.
Low-income families lucky enough to secure a space report better health, stability, and well-being, but too many are still left out due to scarce availability and inequitable rollout, creating a ‘lottery’ when it comes to $10-a-day spaces in BC. Our data revealed that $10-a-Day childcare enables lone mothers and low-income parents to lift themselves out of poverty. We advocate for the Province to complete the roll-out of BC’s promised universal, accessible $10-a-day system and provide equitable, accessible, quality spaces throughout BC—for all families, not just a few.
Our Research Data
Our Making Mothers Matter project research data, published in our A Whole Life report, tells a tale of two child cares in BC. While the fantastic news is that $10-a-day child care is life-changing for low-income parents, there is also an alarming tale. Our government promised a $10-a-day child care system in 2018, but there is no coherent and functional 'system' in sight, leaving many low-income families shut out.
A universal $10-a-day child care system is an extremely impactful poverty reduction tool to tackle family poverty in BC. Our data reveals a positive correlation between access to $10 a Day ChildCareBC spaces and improved health, well-being, and economic outcomes for low-income, lone mothers across the province. Our research participants praised the high quality of child care at $10-a-day centres and valued its positive impact on both their children’s development and the health and well-being of their families.
Economic stability, reduction in round-the-clock gig work, improved health and well-being, and enhanced parenting and family life are some of the benefits these families experienced if they could access one of the limited fully funded spaces available, if they beat wait lists and unfair selection processes.
Our research found that while the BC government promised a $10-a-day child care system, many years later progress towards this goal has faltered and slowed. Our data illustrates that the existing network of spaces has proven inequitable, inaccessible, and incomplete for marginalized low-income lone families in BC.
