Bring Equity to Child Care
The Bring More Equity into Child Care is led by a team of 13 Equitable Child Care Champions, all parents directly impacted by low-income and the need for equitable, accessible child care in BC, and existing leaders in our Lone Mothers' Economic Inclusion project. This initiative scales community-leadership, and consists of new lone mother and gender-diverse advocates supported by our Lone Mothers' Economic Inclusion initiative and our Regional Impact Committees across BC.
Our Research on $10-a-Day Child Care and the Importance of Equity Measures
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.