The first step in improving the child care crisis is the business community, said Julia Black, co-ordinator of Putting Children First program, who asked for help during a Chamber of Commerce luncheon Tuesday (June 16).
Child care providers are fighting a crisis situation, fuelled by declining wages for early childhood educators that barely allow them to make a living, according to local and province-wide child care advocates.
"It takes a community to raise a child," said Black. "We want to build a broader understanding of Early Childhood Development among the business community."
The Chamber's guest speakers for the luncheon, Black and Suzie Soman, director of early childhood development services for the non-profit Sea to Sky Community Services Society (SSCS), implored the business community to get involved.
"Our MLA said the government does not hear from enough families. We need advocacy municipally, provincially and federally. The business community has an important voice that needs to be heard," Black said.
In Canada, only 0.16 per cent of the Gross National Product is actually invested in Early Childhood Development, said Black, who added the government needs to invest at least one percent to change the tides.
Black said child vulnerability in the Howe Sound is 27.5 per cent, which means that only 63 per cent of children are considered ready for kindergarten.
"Researchers note that significant benefits exist from quality learning and child care including social returns such as reducing family poverty," Black said.
In the Sea to Sky Corridor there are only eight licensed childcare spaces per 100 children. Soman said there is a severe shortage of qualified staff.
"Right now someone who does one year of school would start at about $15.75 an hour but we are pushing to get everyone making at least $20 an hour," Soman said.
Soman said there are incentive plans in place to bring in retired Early Childhood Educators that involves a $2,500 bonus, but the plan does not address the staff that has been working consistently for the last 10 years.
"As a result we have limited childcare seats available, less than one space for every 10 children," Soman said. "Increasing birth rates in the area means fewer spaces available in the future for working families."
Despite limited resources and staff, there is some hope. The non-profit SSCS runs multiple daycare programs for young children of different ages in Squamish and Pemberton. There are also a host of programs available such as Bringing Baby Home, Nobody's Perfect Parenting, Putting Children First and more.
"With provincial support we are working to make communities more family friendly," Black said. "Families who have adequate services tend to stay in communities and that impacts schools, business, real estate trends and so on."
