THE ROLE OF CHILDCARE IN ENABLING BRITISH COLUMBIANS TO REENTER THE WORKFORCE (2007)

The availability of quality childcare is no longer just a social issue; the business community of BC now views childcare as one of the key factors in addressing the labour shortage in BC. The ability to recruit and retain workers in all industry sectors is underpinned with a worker’s ability to secure quality childcare that meets their needs. A comprehensive strategic plan for the childcare system in BC is critical to our ability to find the workers essential to our ability to stay competitive in today’s global economy.

Childcare has traditionally been a family and community undertaking but today families are less geographically connected, more dependent on adults earning an income and less involved in the philosophy of a “community raising a child”.

The reality of our world today is that parenting is just part of a host of activities required in a family. Childcare is distributed between both partners in a two-parent family and can be challenging. If both parents work, then the issue of childcare is critical. The need for childcare in a single working parent family is an essential service. Given this reality the ability of parents to access quality, affordable day care has always been important to families but has now become a critical issue for the businesses that rely on these workers.

Recent federal government cuts to existing childcare programs are having a domino effect on the workforce of BC due to the lack of commitment and responsibility from the provincial government to compensate for those federal losses. BC has chosen not to prioritize childcare. The cost of this decision is having an enormous negative impact on the ability of BC businesses to attract women, young families and skilled workers in general to the workforce.

With the current skills and labour shortage, challenges to attract and retain employees have become the issue of critical importance to business. This is of particular importance to small business when we consider that the provincial breakdown of business shows that of the 371,000 businesses in BC, 364,000 have fewer than 50 employees . For small business, it is difficult to attract new workers, or to retain people as larger firms are able to offer higher pay or flexible work hours.

Many younger families find balancing family life with work a challenge. Many of these men and women would find entry and lower level wages, and the costs of childcare are such that it is not in their financial interests to take these positions. This is a limitation to the BC economy when a worker who desires to contribute to the GDP is forced to look at other options to working, or working for a small firm with limited access to benefit options.

The Chamber understands that, for many, the decision regarding returning to work is a consideration of the economic benefit of working, as opposed to the cost and income loss associated with remaining at home.

We have a current childcare subsidy program that is cumbersome, (long in length and not applicable to low literacy levels; many families find it too difficult to understand or complete without assistance), inequitable to BC families and often results in long turnaround times of up to two or three months for approvals.

The current threshold for families applying for childcare assistance is $38,000.00/year; this is compared to an average family income in BC of $62,400. While the subsidy threshold does allow a low-income family to access childcare assistance, it should be noted that a young family would only need to have an hourly income rate of $19.00/hr @ 2,080 hrs./yr. to be ineligible.

Childcare operating funds have also been affected with the average roll-back approximately $2 per enrolled child per day or $40 per month. The federal Child Benefit of $100 per child under six will only support 2.5 days of care per month and most families will also have to pay taxes on that benefit. As well, the Benefit allotment does not include children over 6 who also need after school or weekend care. Most facilities are faced with either closures, staff cut-back (affecting spaces), staff wage reductions or increased fees to parents.

Our Childcare Referral and Resource Centres (CCRR’s) which provide support, advocacy, and licensing required and informal education to childcare operators and families have had their budgets significantly cut resulting in staff reductions, reduced resources and limited ability to provide the regulated services dictated by government. Other Childcare Resource Centres provide similar services in communities.

The last key factor in childcare is the lack of qualified childcare workers. With the average provincial wage rate of $13.50/hour and no benefits, many workers have left the industry to seek out better paying professions. The minimum requirement regulated by BC government to work in a licensed setting is a two-year diploma program – hardly a wage rate that is reflective of a two-year college diploma and education investment on the students’ part. Most colleges have reduced their training programs to part-time or eliminated it all together as not enough students are taking the training. If things are not improved, the current urgent situation will become critical as approved facilities are unable to maintain minimum staffing levels and finding replacements will exacerbate the situation. So, even if more spaces are created, BC does not have enough qualified workers to care for the children.

The Chamber believes that within the industry a danger exists that government programs can have an impact on the ability of private sector employers to recruit staff. As such The Chamber believes it is critical that government not compete with private operations through programs that pay higher wages to the employees and charge the parents lower fees.

THE CHAMBER RECOMMENDS:

That the provincial government prioritizes and funds childcare to develop and implement a comprehensive Childcare Strategy for BC. This plan should include the following:

STRATEGIC PLAN

a) Substitution of the Child Care Subsidy program with a more inclusive and accessible Child Care Assistance Program that would support all parents requiring regulated and licensed childcare;

i. Develop a similar system to the child support grid currently used in the courts to determine child support for custodial parents. The amount of childcare costs would be determined by income, determined by T4 and/or Income Tax returns and number of children accessing childcare.

b) The mandate and effectiveness of CCRRs be recognized, in order to ensure it provides consistent and appropriate levels of service;

INTERIM STEPS

c) The province should work with the federal government to ensure that Child Care Operating Funds be set to 2006 levels as a minimum, and levels be reviewed and amended on an ongoing basis;

d) Ensure funding levels to the CCRR’s and other childcare resource centres meet needs (use 2006 levels as a minimum) to provide ongoing support and education to parents, caregivers, and employers;

e) Provide Private/Partner capital funding to support new or enhanced facilities to increase additional spaces; and

f) Make active efforts to recruit and retain childcare workers, in our increasingly competitive and mobile labour market, by:

i. Determining methods to actively promote careers in childcare, through tools such as the Ministry of Education’s CareerPlanner.
ii. Increase funds to support competitive wages and benefits for the industry.

g) That the province not introduce programs where the programs will be competing with the private sector by hiring staff at wages greater than the market rate