B.C.’s People Value Child Care
Child care is highly valued work. Families contribute a lot of time, effort and money to the work of caring for children. Neighbours and other community members also contribute to children’s care. Most people would agree that caring for and educating children is a paramount duty of the adult generation, and want to do whatever is required to realize this value for all children.
Given that most people, especially almost all parents, grandparents and other primary caregivers, place child care at the top of their priorities and values, why don’t governments and employers reflect these values? Where is the backing from government to provide support for families and children who need quality child care?
Child care is much like time off from work and paid holidays, dental care and pharmacare, affordable housing, unemployment insurance, and social security. These are things that we deeply value, but are also the things that too many politicians and employers seem to only value in terms of how they can use them to motivate us to do more of the things that we don’t value (like working extra hours, struggling to make ends meet, or contributing our time and effort to those opposed to our values and interests).
This paradox might be why most child care work is either unpaid or poverty-paid. What families need, instead of this paradox, is more community support in realizing our shared human rights values of dignity, respect and sanctity of human life. This includes supports that allow families to have more time together and publicly funded and controlled safeguards to ensure that all children have access to the care to which they are entitled. Community support can come in many forms, including publicly-funded, community-controlled child care programs available to all children and families.
With 18.8% of B.C. children in poverty, and most early childhood educators receiving poverty-wages, it’s time for a change in our approaches to supporting those who care for children. New approaches should reflect the ideals and values of most people (those who consider children’s care and well-being to be a paramount value), not the values of the few who think that “go-it-alone” is the only support that children, families and communities require when caring for children.
