Child-care advocates push for more spaces
The Daily Courier - Kelowna
23 May 2007
By: Don Plant

A coalition of child-care advocates is challenging Interior Health officials to survey their employees about the day-care shortage.

The Community Action Toward Children's Health (CATCH) coalition, which speaks to IH's board of directors in Vernon today, is targeting the health authority because it employs the most workers (about 4,600) in the Central Okanagan.

"We want them to find . . . how child care is related to the motivation of their staff and their business operation," said CATCH manager Menno Salverda.

"Every business here faces a challenge in retaining labour. We think there's a link with child care."

In 2006, 389 licensed spaces were open to children under three in the Central Okanagan -- about nine per cent of the 4,314 infants and toddlers in the region, according to the local school district.

Out-of-towners who have landed jobs here are being turned down because of the shortage.

The Kelowna Childcare Society has fielded numerous calls from parents in Vancouver, Calgary and Winnipeg who have a job in Kelowna, but don't have child care, said executive director Lynn Burgat.

"They say, 'I guess I can't come.' I brought that to the attention of Mayor (Sharon) Shepherd. This is affecting Kelowna's ability to recruit new people to work," said Burgat.

"For any child under age three, it's almost impossible to find child care. Even before a child is born, (parents) are putting their child on day-care wait-lists."

The Economic Development Commission is trying to recruit outside workers to fill vacancies here. CATCH believes more stay-at-home parents will take those jobs if more quality day-care spaces become available.

"We think there is a very strong connection between offering good-quality child care and economic and social outcomes," Salverda said.

"If child care were more affordable, we'd see more women working."

Meanwhile, about one in four children entering school in B.C. is likely to fall behind developmentally because he or she hasn't had the chance to learn through observation and participation in their early years, he said. Kids' "vulnerabilities" are linked to the shortage of child-care spaces, he said.

The federal government gives parents $100 a month for every child under six to help them pay for child care. Salverda isn't sure it's working.

"It helps parents a little bit, but it's taxed. We don't know whether it's led to more quality spaces."

Compounding the problem are the low wages for day-care workers. At $10 to $12 an hour, staff turnover is high. A random phone survey of 250 local residents commissioned by CATCH last year found 89 per cent of them would support using tax dollars for early childhood development, Salverda said.

"If we invest in something like child care, it will pay itself back. Fewer people would require special education. There would be less criminality and better health for children."

QUICK FACTS

Some facts about the child-care shortage, based on figures from the local school district and StatsCan:

- 8,480 children six and younger lived in the Central Okanagan in March 2006.

- 1,866 licensed spaces (22 per cent) were available for that age group; all were filled, with waiting lists.

- 4,314 children under three lived in the Central Okanagan.

- 389 licensed spaces (nine per cent) were available; all were filled, with waiting lists.

- 6,155 families (27 per cent) in the Central Okanagan had one parent, according to the 2001 census.

- 76 per cent of all local parents worked in 2001.