Poll shows support for increasing early childhood spending
Tyee
By Tom Sandborn
April 28, 2010

More than 70 per cent of B.C. residents underestimate how many of the province's children enter school developmentally vulnerable, an Angus Reid poll released today shows.

And most of those polled expressed strong support for increased public spending once they learned how many B.C. children are at risk and how low Canadian investment in early childhood education and daycare is in contrast to other wealthy countries.

Twenty-nine per cent of B.C. children, including many kids from middle-class homes, are developmentally vulnerable, according to the UBC-based Human Early Learning Partnership. "Developmentally vulnerable" is defined as not being ready to learn when a child enters kindergarten.

Read online