Child care missing job link
The Citizen
By Lexi Bainas
October 2, 2009

 The Cowichan Child Care Council's Mary Dolan this week said she's worried that the provincial government has its priorities backwards when it comes to helping children and families.

"I often hear members of the B.C. government saying that the solution to poverty is for people to get a job. The missing link for parents is often quality childcare," she said in a release.

"Parents cannot go to work unless their children have reliable, affordable, high-quality care for their children. If this is not available how can we recommend that parents go to work? A universal childcare system is necessary in communities."…

Identifying today's children as the first age group to be spending a large part of early childhood in some from of out-of-home child care, UNICEF identifies this as a positive development, provided that the policies and programs for young children are sufficiently available….

Under the guidelines of the United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child, many Canadian children are being denied entitlement to their rights.

Benchmarks that Canada did not achieve include:

- Subsidized and regulated child care services for 25 per cent of children under three;

- Subsidized and accredited early education services for 80 per cent of four year olds;

- 80 per cent of child care staff trained;

- One per cent of GDP spent on early childhood services;

- Child poverty rate less than 10 per cent;

- A national plan with priority for disadvantaged children.

The UNICEF Report calls on public and policy makers to decide whether we will stand up and rise to the challenge of this time of transition in our world to set standards that will ensure the well-being of "today's children and tomorrow's world."…