During the last provincial election, there was much discussion about daycare. Since the left generally believes proper childcare means to institutionalize all children, it behooves the right to explore better options to the childcare concerns. Voters need to have more options, and parents, especially mothers, need more options.
When formulating policy for big problems it is best to actually understand the problem. To understand a problem we have to have an honest discussion about what we value, the concerns we have, the problems faced, and what kind of province we want to live in, and of course, human nature. In the case of childcare, there are a number of conflicting values that I see at play, some of which are: what parents want and/or need, what governments think parents and children need, what the tax base can support, current workplace values, and what children actually need.
Times have changed, work has changed. It used to be that children learned to work by working alongside their parents or were apprenticed. This all changed after the industrial revolution, but we haven't had an economy-wide, meaningful discussion about the negative consequences of removing children from our work since then. Nor have we made the business world flexible enough to accommodate parents. In much of the business world, employee's childcare needs are seen as the worker's problem, despite the shiny company ads saying they have a family-friendly work environment.
The human nature of parents cannot be ignored. Nearly every mother and father are overwhelmed by a great, previously unimaginable love for their babies. I have heard too many mothers talk about the difficulty of the decision to return to work to believe that it is merely a result of cultural conditioning. To deny this normal biological desire to have our children with us is to deny our humanity. Forcing new parents to send their baby to an institution so that the parents can "contribute to the economy" seems like a new form of barbarianism to me.
Children want and need to be valued. They need to feel the love of their parents. They need to spend time with their parents. If we wish to continue having a civil society (or get back on track to one,) we cannot ignore this basic fact. How do we solve the problem of children's needs seemingly at odds with the business and working world that rewards us for ignoring our children?
Parents need to have options that empower choice in childcare. Parents are the best suited to make that choice. Government policy shouldn't be making their choice for them with punitive taxes, inflexible workplaces, or lack of childcare options.
Employment and childcare policy should reflect the realities of low-income families, the parents who want to stay home with their children, as well as the families where both parents choose to work. Employers and customers need to recognize that children are a wonderful fact of life. Some possible solutions that I have thought about include:
Community daycares where rates are determined by income.
Employers could increase employer flexibility. This idea has been floated around and implemented with some success by some employers. (This will improve as the millennials begin having children, as they are more attuned to the importance of work-life balance.)
Career flexibility. Chopping up some of the more highly skilled and trained professions in a way that includes the importance of parenting may yield some innovative solutions. For moms, taking a few years away from their chosen profession to raise their children has historically contributed to women being paid less for equal work. We need to explore ways to keep women engaged during those years, even if not working.
Income-splitting would help some families choose to have a stay-at-home parent.
Make government childcare funding a universal payment for every child, regardless of who is caring for the child.
Taxpayer funded Early Childhood Education training. This would remove the barrier to getting licensed, and would mean that a stay-at-home parent could more easily provide quality childcare for her friends and neighbours during the time she wishes to stay at home. This could help with a number of issues; lack of spaces, distance to travel, distance to schools, etc. Children being able to stay in their neighbourhood would help build vibrant neighbourhoods as well.
Times, technology, and economic opportunities have changed, and we need to figure out a better way to integrate children into our working lives. Let's talk about this, and begin a needed discussion.
