Who can afford parenthood?
Cariboo Press - Prince George Free Press
May 9, 2008
Opinion By: Arthur Williams

On Sunday we take time to honour and celebrate our mothers.

…But how are we doing, as a society, at taking care of our mothers?

Momhood used to be a full-time job. It's still a full-time job, but now most families need two incomes to get by so mom has an outside career too.

Modern moms have a lot on the go. Having reliable, accessible, affordable child care would certainly help with the career/family/sanity juggling act.

With the high cost of child care and difficulty finding spaces, many families are returning to the old model of one stay-at-home parent.

In many cases it's not that these moms - although there are an increasing number of stay-at-home dads…, it's that they can't afford to work and pay child care.

A rising number of grandparents are spending their golden years taking care of their grandchildren because the parents can't afford child care.

Child care costs increased $100 per month last year, to an average of $900 per month.

Add that to increasing tuition rates, rising student debt and increasing cost of living and it's not surprising that women are waiting longer to have children and are having less of them.

Who can afford to have kids these days?

Those who are having children are often raising them in poverty or near- poverty, because they can't afford to live. We lead the country for the number of children in poverty.

It's time for a national child care system in Canada. If not in Canada, then B.C. should look at following Quebec and developing a provincial system.

The average child care cost in Quebec is $7 a day - about $140 a month. In B.C. we're paying up to ten times that much.

If Quebec can do it, so can we.