The need for affordable care for young children
September 23, 2009
Kelowna.com/Canwest News Service
Julie Linkletter, Vancouver

The University of B.C.’s HELP project, discussed in Pete McMartin’s column Sept. 17 ("The brain drain on the economy may be child’s play"), confirms what parents already know. Access to quality early-childhood education and care is crucial to our kids’ future and has been neglected for far too long in B.C.

We were so lucky to be able to enrol our daughters in daycare when they turned one. Both girls flourished under the tutelage of their daycare teachers.

This was especially evident when my older daughter started kindergarten. She was immediately at ease in the classroom and with her teacher, having experienced a group setting with her daycare friends for years.

I know the same will be true for my younger daughter when she starts kindergarten. Our experience is not unique, but far too few families have access to quality child care. We need a daycare system more parents can afford and we need to start paying daycare teachers a decent wage for doing such valuable work.