Waitlists for child care a growing problem - despite government claims
BCGEU
March 17, 2008

The BC minister of state for child care's promise today that "improvement is on the way" for child care in our province - rings hollow for BCGEU members who are parents or who work as early childhood educators.

"The Campbell government continues to offer piecemeal and one-time only temporary fixes to the growing crisis in child care," says BCGEU president George Heyman.

"We need to immediately begin building a holistic child care system that supports working parents by lowering parent fees and increasing spaces for children - including out-of-school care spaces. Further, wages must be increased to attract and keep early childhood educators."

Heyman notes, "Surveys from Victoria and New Westminster show communities across BC are losing child care spaces because of government funding cuts."

The BC NDP issued a media release today citing a survey by the Victoria Child Care Information Action Project that shows that the Capital Region has lost 133 child care spaces over a ten month period. (See www.raisingbc.ca)

In a recent survey done by the City of New Westminster, 91 percent of the child care centres surveyed have waitlists, and 51 percent of the parents who responded said the lack of child care affects their ability to work.

Linda Reid, minister responsible for child care, has tried to downplay survey results, saying, "Waitlist data is very problematic because there are lots of families who haven't conceived a child yet and they will proudly tell me they're on a waitlist for child care."

Heyman dismissed the minister's response, saying, "Reid cannot brush off survey responses from towns across BC - our province is losing child care spaces."