Raise national child benefit

Posted on October 21, 2013 in Child & Family Policy Context

TheStar.com – opinion/readers’ letters – Re: PM urged to monitor child-care benefit, Oct. 15
Oct 21 2013.   Laurel Rothman

PM urged to monitor child-care benefit, Oct. 15

The new report by the Childcare Resource and Research Unit confirms what most parents know: the growth in licensed child care spaces and quality indicators is slow and is far from keeping up with parent’s needs.

At the same time, the Universal Child Care Benefit (UCCB), originally promoted as the “choice in child care benefit” when initiated in 2006, has paralleled both a rise in the number of Canada’s children under 6 and in the number of mothers with young children who are in the paid labour force.

Employment and Social Development Minister Jason Kenney’s office responds that “a one-size-fits-all model” of childcare does not support the majority of Canadian parents and that the UCCB has helped to lift children out of poverty.

We remind the minister that if his goal is to lift children out of poverty, the most efficient way to do that is to enhance the National Child Benefit, a progressive, non-taxable cash transfer to parents.

As well, low-income parents tell us that they want the safety and security of high quality, regulated child care services so that they can pursue education, training and paid employment with the goal of economic independence.

Laurel Rothman, National Coordinator, Campaign 2000, Toronto

< http://www.thestar.com/opinion/letters_to_the_editors/2013/10/21/raise_national_child_benefit.html >

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