An examination of Canada’s quest for a national day care program.
This paper discusses the need for a national subsidized day care program to aid working mothers which will also ensure that entire salaries do not just cover day care expenses. As the number of working mothers increases, the number of available day care positions in Canada dramatically decreases and this impedes on the quality and price of care available. It examines the existing day care options and includes a table comparing child care costs in different regions of the country.
`During the past two decades, it has been quite effective that a national day care program is in high demand for many parents. However, many critics of the program are willing to confidently fight the system. Due to supporters if the traditional family, such as Kids First, a Calgary-based parents group with 5,000 members across the country, the Alberta government reduced monthly subsidies for individual day care expenditures from $256 to $50. Kids First members and supporters claim day care subsidies are prejudiced to stay-at-home parents (Chisholm & Jenish, 1993). Additionally, Kids First initiated a judicial challenge opposing the child care expense deduction of a maximum $4,000 per child (Friendly & Rothman, 1995).`