Daycare shortage part of welfare trap
Times Colonist (Victoria)
07 Apr 2008
By: Elizabeth Y. Hall

The next time I hear someone complain about why welfare mothers don't get off their butts and find a job it's possible that Albertans will hear my scream.

Here is some information for the jury of disdain. Minimum wage pays approximately $1,200 a month gross. Welfare pays a single mother of two about $1,200 a month. After taxes and deductions minimum wage pays less.

Meanwhile, if you can find it, the average cost for full-time daycare for a child under five is about $650. The daycare subsidy covers $600.

If you have a child in Grade 1, the average cost of before and after school care is $300 to $400 a month. The day care subsidy covers less than $200. …

So you have a single mother with two kids in school.

Miraculously, she finds daycare, including before and after school care, and so is now paying $300 a month out of her pocket for care. That leaves $900 a month for rent and groceries, plus the child tax benefit of about $500 a month.

So she has $1,400 a month income left. Rent on a two-bedroom apartment is $1,000, so she has $400 a month for electricity, phone, food, transportation to and from work and day care. Forget about anything extra for her children that she loves.

In today's market finding a job is easy; finding child care is not. If the government wants single mothers off welfare, daycare needs a serious overhaul.

I have only been on welfare since Feb. 16 and would really like to get off it as fast as I can, but until I find daycare for my son I'm kind of stuck here.