No daycare, no family, no support; Single mom fears daycare system is about to quash her dreams of being a teacher
Abbotsford Times
December 7, 2007
By: Tricia Leslie

…. As the single mother laughs, makes noises and plays peek-a-boo with her daughter, she elicits baby giggles that only a nine-month-old can make.

Holding her daughter on her lap, Methorst occasionally whispers low, comforting words.

Methorst's stress is carefully hidden. But it's there.

Because amid the signs of a baby in residence - a playpen, a variety of toys and a selection of vibrating/swinging/musical chairs - Methorst's clean and comfortable apartment also shows signs of the fact she is studying at the University College of the Fraser Valley.

Notes, papers and a textbook are tucked tidily away. Methorst is scared. She fears that won't be able to find daycare for Cierra after December, since a lack of workers has put the future of Cierra's daycare in jeopardy.

"There's nothing in Abbotsford for daycare, and it's even worse if your child is under two [years old]," Methorst said. She says she has called every licenced daycare in Abbotsford that will take a nine-month-old, but "there's slim pickings." One was closed, one was in danger of closing, one was only offered to teenaged moms, and the others simply had no space and long waiting lists.

"No one wants to say the system isn't working. Well, it's not. We're at a crisis level here," Methorst said, adding that, with B.C. Minister of State for Children Linda Reid visiting Abbotsford today, she wants to know what is being done….

In fact, Methorst said, changes recently announced by Reid make it even harder for her - or anyone - to find daycare for infants, since the changes mean daycare operators no longer have to reserve spaces for infants.

Reid did not return the Times' calls.

Methorst pointed to recent studies - available on government websites - that show how important it is children receive good care in their early years, and how not having it can affect their development.

"I'm a single mom and student trying to deal with final exams right now, but all I can think about is, is my daughter going to be cared for," Methorst said.

"I can't put my schooling before my daughter's well-being."

Methorst isn't the only one pointing to the need for childcare spaces and workers. Recent independent studies conducted by the United Way of the Fraser Valley show a huge gap between the need, and the services available.

"Affordable, quality childcare seems to be on no one's radar right now," said UWFV executive director Glenn Hope last month.

"In Abbotsford alone, there are nearly 7,000 kids [under five] who need child care, but there's only 1,175 licenced childcare spaces."

And it's important a daycare be licenced, Methorst said, because if it is not, then the subsidy the mother receives to help pay for the care is cut in half.

Methorst says it is important to upgrade her studies so she can become a teacher, because working as a teaching assistant in Mission [she is now on maternity leave] means take-home pay of $1,600 a month.

"I don't have my mom or family or in-laws to fall back on and I don't have a husband to support me while I go back to school," Methorst said. "Daycare spaces - especially for infants and toddlers - are needed. Early childhood education workers are needed. The government needs to increase wages for ECE workers or put some kind of incentives in place for people to even get into the field," she said.

"Who would want to go to school to only earn $12 an hour? The government needs to step up. The whole issue has gone unaddressed for too long."