Cookie-cutter daycare system not the answer

Torontosun.com
May 7, 2017
By Antonella Artuso

The growing vacancy rate in City of Toronto centre-based daycare is largely the result of affordability problems, not over-supply, Councillor Janet Davis says.

A city-commissioned review found daycare fees in Toronto were the highest in the country, and that cost was the biggest factor for parents considering childcare, she said.

“Particularly in an urban setting like Toronto, where the cost of housing is so high, you add the cost of childcare, which is the equivalent of a second mortgage to a family’s budget, and it’s impossible to have children and own a house,” Davis said last week.

A new Cardus think-tank report says a 10-year city plan that calls for 30,000 new spaces funded largely by the provincial and federal governments ignores the fact that average daycare vacancies rose by 89% between 2009-17, leaving roughly 4,500 spaces unoccupied.

Report author Andrea Mrozek said the city’s focus should be on making care accessible and affordable for all parents.

“In spite of these surpluses, I do believe parents still have a hard time finding care,” Mrozek said. “The City of Toronto is not fine tuning their offerings such that they’re actually reaching parents, and that is why I am concerned about the expansion of the system that doesn’t work right now.“

Continuing with a cookie-cutter system favoured by daycare advocates won’t serve parents and children well, she said.

“It just seems like they have their mind set on this particular form of care, this sort of expansion, and it doesn’t even matter what the evidence says,” Mrozek said. “This is not evidence-based public policy.”

Most parents when polled say their childcare preferences would be one parent at home, followed by a relative or friend providing care, a neighbourhood daycare and, lastly, a centre-based model, she said.

Davis said their consultations found that parents want a centre-based model provided it is not too expensive.

The city’s daycare plan, which would create 30,000 new spaces by 2026 and lower costs for parents by 25-40% if fully funded, would help meet the needs of half the child population, she said.

The Toronto system does offer flexible versions of childcare, but does not support in-home unlicensed care, she noted.

“We have to have public accountability for public funds,” Davis said.

Carolyn Ferns, of the Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care, said that while it may seem contradictory to have vacancies and waitlists at the same time, this reflects high fees, limited subsidies, as well as “age, language and cultural specificity, neighbourhood and parent preferences for certain programs.”