Government must support child care for parents
Burnaby Now
October 11, 2008
By: Vanessa Cowley, Coquitlam

Dear Editor:

Re: Parents struggle finding care for kids, Burnaby NOW, Oct. 4.

I feel compelled to respond to the article about a parent's struggle to find child care.

I am a parent of two wonderful school-aged children, and I have been extremely fortunate in finding daycare for my children over the years.

It makes me so angry when I hear people are grateful for the $100 per month the Conservatives give them, because it fails to acknowledge that the money was taken away from the daycares to fund it.

The Conservative government redirected funding that was going to child-care centres and gave it to all parents, whether they were working or not.

When that happened, my child-care costs went up more than the amount I was receiving for my one child under six.

For two children full-time, I was paying $1,060 per month.

Since my youngest turned six last March, I get nothing.

I fail to understand how a six-year-old and an eight-year-old are supposed to look after themselves while I'm at work.

All working parents need child-care support, regardless of the age of their children.

I am university-educated. The taxpayer funded about 80 per cent of my education, but I can't afford to work because of the child-care costs.

How's that for a wasted investment!