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"With the cost of child care upwards of $1200 a month, parents know that their benefit cheque is a drop in the bucket." — Carolyn Ferns, Vote Child Care organizer.
Toronto (21 July 2015) — A small fraction of the monthly child care costs of Canadian families will be covered by the government's payout ahead of the federal election in the form of the Universal Child Care Benefit (UCCB).
$8 billion spent and still no National Child Care program
This cheque, plus income-splitting, will cost Canadians almost $8 billion by 2017, yet without delivering a National Child Care program. A recent report from the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) states that more than half the money spent on the expanded UCCB will go to families without child care expenses of any kind.
Currently, only one in five children is able to access a regulated child care space in Canada. For a majority of Canadian families, child care is the second-highest household expense. Combined, these obstacles disproportionately impact mothers in the workforce.
Attempt to buy parent's vote?
"With the cost of child care upwards of $1200 a month, parents know that their benefit cheque is a drop in the bucket," said Carolyn Ferns, Vote Child Care organizer, "If sending out the money, months before an election, is a way to buy parents to the side of the Conservatives, it is not going to work. Parents need real help in the form of affordable quality child care spaces."
Momentum building
The Vote Child Care campaign is building momentum towards the federal election, calling on the next Canadian government to commit to long-term sustained federal funding and leadership on child care.
"Quality, affordable child care that all families can count on will be delivered through the ballot box, not the mailbox," affirmed Sharon Gregson, of BC's 10-a-day campaign. "It is clear that voters across the country are ready to make national child care a priority in this election."
Vote Child Care 2015 is an initiative of the Child Care Advocacy Association of Canada (CCAAC), a non-partisan, non-profit organization with representatives from across Canada, dedicated to promoting a universal, publicly funded, inclusive, quality, non-profit child care system. The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) is a member of the CCAAC.
NUPGE
The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) is one of Canada's largest labour organizations with over 360,000 members. Our mission is to improve the lives of working families and to build a stronger Canada by ensuring our common wealth is used for the common good. NUPGE