Northern B.C. faces challenges when it comes to childcare; Early childhood educators need high level of schooling but face low wages after leaving the classroom
Dawson Creek Daily News
17 Jan 2008
By: Andrew Bergland

Northern B.C. has a poor record when it comes to childcare and ignoring the problem now will only cost taxpayers more in the future, says the chair of human development, education and care at Northern Lights College.

"We have research that says for every dollar that you invest now into early childhood it's going to save you $2 in social spending in the lifetime of that individual," said Kathy Handley, citing information taken from the University of Toronto's "Economics and Management Review."

"And for every dollar you invest in a child who is struggling you're going to save seven."

The current state of early childcare education in B.C. is nothing to be proud of. On one side, parents are paying more and more for a fewer number of childcare spots in the province. At the same time, early childcare educators are leaving the profession because they are not being paid enough to survive….

When asked why these workers would need incentives to enter, or return to the sector they were educated to work in, Handley said early childhood educators need a relatively high level of schooling for a job with low pay.

"As an entry level person in the early childhood field you're probably looking at - $14 to $15 an hour to start," she said, adding entry level pay for an education assistant, which requires less training, starts at about $25 an hour.

There's also little in the way of advancement in an early childhood education career and each additional year of training only results in about a dollar extra an hour.

"It's definitely one of the places that gets the least amount of recognition," said Handley.

"It's always thought that if you really love children that's what keeps you there so you don't want to do it for the money or else there's a greed associated with it and those kinds of personality characteristics don't sit well with people who do this kind of work."

Handley also said northern B.C. is being ignored by the rest of Canada because they assume children and their guardians are getting the benefit from the booming economy.

"We're doing really well... we have all these people working, yes, but - a kindergarten child going to school half-time - it's going to cost them $700 to $775 a month to have their kindergarten child in a childcare program so they can work between the hours of 8:30 and 5 p.m."

Those rates increase the younger the child and there are no discounts for multiple children.

Handley recently had personal experience trying to find childcare for a kindergarten-aged child and discovered it would cost her and her partner $35 a day.

There are less expensive options but none of them come with quality guarantees:

"I can take my chances and hope another childcare setting would be OK but I'm not going to be going with somebody who knowledge of childcare regulations - actually is complying with the minimum requirements or standards of cleanliness and health and all that stuff."

When asked how the province's childcare system needs to be improved, Handley hesitates to answer. She doesn't want to point the finger at government assistance for the fear of sounding like a broken record but clearly feels the province and the country are not taking the needs of children seriously enough….

"As a child I should have the right - if my parents are working, or in school, or under stress - I have a right to my needs being met in the best way possible so that it ensures my future is bright and strong."