Subsidy means test already in place for childcare
Cowichan Valley Citizen
27 Apr 2007
Opinion -- By: Ian Mcfarland, Chair, Parkside Academy Society Childcare Centre, Duncan

Dear Editor:

In the context of the current situation regarding childcare in B.C. the letter from Wilfred Wunderlich in the April 11 edition of The Citizen makes interesting reading.

While I certainly agree with the writer that having our tax money used to pay childcare expenses for the well off is not money well spent, I would hasten to say that this is certainly not what is happening in this province.

The three-tiered system envisioned by Mr. Wunderlich is, more or less, the kind of system that currently exists in B.C. Eligibility for the childcare subsidy takes into account net family income and family size, which is, in effect, a means test. The process for determining the amount of the childcare subsidy to be paid depends on many factors: family income, single parent or a couple, whether there are dependent adults in the family unit, the number and ages of the children, and whether the childcare centre the children will attend is a licenced facility or not. There is a form on the Ministry of Children and Families website (www.mcf.gov.bc.ca) which anyone can use to determine eligibility for a childcare subsidy.

The important information for Mr. Wunderlich and anyone else who is worried about their tax money being wasted, and we should all be concerned about this, is that childcare subsidies are not being paid out to high-income families.

The main problem in the field of childcare today in the Cowichan Valley and elsewhere is that there are far too few good, licenced facilities available to meet demand, even from those for whom some kind of childcare is an absolute necessity. This situation is not helped at all by the fact that wages for early childhood educators are so low that there are too few graduates in this field to allow the creation new centres in order to reduce the size of waiting lists.

Mr. Wunderlich's point that the state being responsible for raising our children is a frightening thought is very well taken. In the majority of cases the best place for a preschool child to be raised is indeed at home with parents. However, for so many parents today, single parents especially, daycare is, sadly, the only option.