Report shows BC can afford child care plan

A new report says the province has the money to support the $10aDay child care plan.

The report by CCPA-BC economist Iglika Ivanova claims the government has the fiscal capacity to sustain the childcare plan for 10 years with or without new federal transfer funds.

The $10aDay group claim the plan is self-financing, saying the families that benefit from the plan can generate the revenue required to launch it.

“Childcare costs as much as rent or a mortgage,” says $10aDay Spokesperson Sharon Gregson, “When it’s affordable and accessible, more parents, particularly more mothers, are able to re-enter the workforce after having children.”

So is an economic benefit from supporting childcare tangible?

“New people working are paying income taxes to the provincial and federal government, which helps pay for the original investment in building the childcare system,” explains Gregson, “The more people we have working, the more tax revenue for government, the more people earning a salary and buying things locally… Childcare can become an economic engine for communities.”

An Insights West poll found the plan has roughly 2 million supporters in BC, with 82% of residents agreeing the plan would be beneficial.

While Canada ranks low globally in terms of childcare support, the story is even worse for BC.

“Within Canada, British Columbia ranks very poorly against our provincial counterparts,” says Gregson, “Quebec is the only province that has anything like a childcare system, and they introduced it in 1997.”