Four out of five families with young children have two working parents. Child Care BC developed in response to community demand provides families with choices that may assist them in caring for their children. Government has a role to play in helping to develop the best possible child care program for our children and for the future strength of British Columbia. The future of our province depends on our children. Child educators confirm that children who have quality, stimulating child care in their early years often have improved social and learning skills that lead to higher achievement in school and life-long success.
Every child deserves the chance to have the best start in life.
Because of part-time enrolments, the number of children enrolled in licensed child care is greater than the number of spaces. We estimate that more than 110,000 children will benefit from Child Care BC when the program is fully developed in 2004. During our consultation with parents and the child care community, we were told many times that infant and toddler care costs need to be addressed as quickly as possible. Infant and toddler care requires more staff for the number of children cared for, and as a result, it is the most expensive kind of child care for providers to offer and for parents to afford. Child Care BC provides funding assistance to child care providers, not parents, so there will be no means testing.