Joanne Abshire, NEWS1130
Trying to find day care is a challenge for many parents. With limited space available, many have their children on long wait lists.
News1130 has earlier reported on $10-per-day universal child care as one possible solution to finding affordable qualified day care; now, advocates say higher pay for workers is another answer.
When it comes to affordable child care, Crystal Janes with the West Coast Child Care Resource Centre says “it’s extremely expensive for families” and calls the situation a crisis. But there’s another contributing factor: the issue of retention.
“There’s a challenge in finding qualified care providers to stay and work in the programs because the salaries are so low, and often without benefits. Within five years, 50 per cent of the people that entered the field will leave the field because the salaries are too low,” she argues.
That’s why Janes is calling for better wages as part of a government-funded universal day care program that wouldn’t cost parents more than $10 a day. “The Early Childhood Advocates of BC and the Coalition of Childcare Advocates are supporting a $25 an hour wage.”…