What parents and government can do to help kids
We asked eight influential people to draw on their experience and name three to five things parents and governments need to do to give B.C.'s children a better start in life during the years from birth to age 12

The Province
October 21, 2010
EXCERPT only

ADRIENNE MONTANI
Provincial co-ordinator, First call: BC Child and Youth Advocacy Coalition

Most parents do their best to give their children a good start by providing the necessary food and care for body, mind and spirit. The difficulty for many parents is when their ability to provide this foundation is undermined by the stress of living in poverty, working long hours or more than one job; or when their choices are constrained by the lack of access to quality childcare, to therapies for children's special needs or to help in a time of crisis.

We all have a stake in raising healthy and capable children and therefore in supporting parents in their child-rearing responsibilities. Through our governments we can:

- Bring B.C.'s and Canada's investment in early childhood care and learning up to the minimum one per cent of GDP recommended by UNICEF.

The combined federal and provincial investment in these services is currently only 0.2 per cent.

- Reduce Canada's gender gap, that is, the relative investment of resources between men and women. International evidence shows that investing in mothers means investing in children's well-being. We need to reduce the unacceptably high rate of lone female parents raising children in poverty. This means expanded access to good childcare and housing, higher child-tax benefits, a reformed welfare system and more good jobs for women.

- Put in place ambitious plans to eliminate child poverty in B.C. and federally, with targets and timelines we can hold ourselves accountable to meet.

- Take our obligations to children seriously. This means regular public reporting on a variety of indicators related to their physical and mental-health status, living conditions, educational milestones, participation in arts and recreation and justice system involvement.

READ THE OTHERS