Scarce federal and provincial daycare dollars are going to subsidize universal childcare regardless of whether those receiving a subsidy need it or not. Meanwhile, many lower income families who work in shifts cannot access the care because the "9-to-5" nature of the universal childcare program is unsuited to their needs. And families who would prefer to stay home with their child receive no childcare support. Cardus' @mrozekandrea told @NEWSTALK1010's Deb Hutton the fairest way to support the daycare costs of Canadian families is to let families apply any subsidy toward their preferred method of childcare.

"$10-a-day" child care was an advocacy slogan that became a policy, and that policy is failing Canadian families, says Cardus Family program director Peter Jon Mitchell. Mitchell's latest report summarizes the data from the first three years of the federal child care program's implementation and outlines why the program falls short: ➡️ Provinces and territories have a “golden handcuff” problem. Provincial governments are now dependent on federal funding to sustain the child care sector. ➡️ Governments have knowledge deficits. The federal and provincial/territorial governments entered into agreements without understanding the true cost and complexity of implementation. ➡️ The federal government’s approach toward for-profit providers is a disservice to all. The federal government wavers between an ideological commitment to a public system and its practical need to work with all licensed child care providers, resulting in an inconsistent funding approach toward the sector. ➡️ Poor transparency and lack of accountability plague the program. Despite commitments to transparency, the federal government and many regional governments have not adequately informed the public on the implementation of the program. ➡️ The program does not serve the majority of Canadian families. Estimates of the number of children who benefit from the program are wide-ranging, but only a minority of children under age six benefit from the over $30-billion Program. Learn more about what the data shows and the lessons for policy-makers, child care providers, and families by reading the full report, "Ten-Dollar Delay: How Canada's Child Care Program Locked Provinces In and Left Most Families Out" ➡️ cardus.ca/research/family/re…

Do the majority of Canadian families with children benefit from the federal child care program? No, says Cardus Family program director Peter Jon Mitchell. In fact, the program is far off target in terms of the number of children it was intended to serve. This is a key finding from Mitchell's latest report, summarizing the first three years of the program's implementation. Learn more about what the data shows, and the lessons for policy-makers, child care providers, and families by reading the full report: "Ten-Dollar Delay: How Canada's Child Care Program Locked Provinces In and Left Most Families Out" ➡️ cardus.ca/research/family/re…

In a letter to the editor, Cardus Family senior fellow @mrozekandrea responds to a Globe & Mail editorial calling for "the rapid expansion of child-care spaces" through the federal child care plan, which Andrea says would be "doubling down on a failed system." "The problem isn’t that governments haven’t prioritized space creation. In fact many provinces have set aggressive targets, but none have come close to meeting them. "Why? Governments underestimated the costs and complexities of the system they want to create. "Federal rules have also pushed out many of the very people, private entrepreneurs, best positioned to grow child-care spaces. The system also leans heavily toward 9-to-5 care, excluding anyone working different hours, typically lower-income parents. "Decades’ worth of Cardus research points to a better way: child-care providers joining hands with all parents, not the limited percentage preferring spots in centres. The answer should be subsidies for families, not centres. "Any federal solution that avoids this would continue to be plagued by the problems pointed out here – in perpetuity." Learn more by reading our series of research reports analyzing data from the implementation of the federal child care plan across Canada ➡️ bit.ly/3UDE9Qw Read Andrea's letter to the editor ➡️ tgam.ca/459j8Cc