Child care in Ontario:
A sound investment

January 2001

Child Care is big business:

In 1995 alone, over $1-billion was being spent annually on regulated child care in Ontario:

$560-million/fed/prov/municipal

$450-million parent fees [v]

Today, if child care was offered to all Canadian children aged two to five, the immediate benefit to our economy would exceed $6-million due to higher employability for parents, higher income and taxes paid by parents and savings to the social welfare system. [vi]

Reduced welfare costs:

The cost of keeping a parent and child on welfare for ten years is $148,320 versus $55,432 to provide full-time child care for ten years. [vii]

Workforce effectiveness:

Women aged 24-35 lost 13.8 days in 1993 due to child care responsibilities. [viii]

A survey of 11,000 employees found 10% had left jobs, and an additional 14% considered leaving a job because of breakdown in child care arrangements. [ix]

35% of women workers reported finding balancing work and family stressful to the point that it “constantly” to “frequently” interferes with their concentration at work. [x]

In 1994, the Conference Board of Canada found that 66% of employees surveyed reported difficulty balancing their work and family lives.  The cost to Canadian businesses due to absences for family reasons topped $2.7 billion annually.

Parental choice:

23% of families pay for the services of an informal provider. Of those families, only 4% would keep their children in their current arrangement if regulated care were available and affordable. [xi]

Reduced social costs:

Research indicates that for every $1 spent on early childhood education for high-risk children there are future savings in social spending including health care, welfare child welfare, education, police and prisons. Long term savings 1:7. [xii]

Children who attend quality early childhood development programs arrive at school “ready to learn”, show advanced language and math skills, are able to better concentrate on school work, make less use of later remedial programs, are better able to follow adult direction, and are more empathetic to their peers.  These benefits are consistent among all children whether or not there is a parent in the home full time. [xiii]

A recent University of Toronto study entitled The Benefits and Costs of Good Child Care conducted by two leading economists, found that for every $1 government invested in “quality” child care services for Canadian children aged two to five years, there is a $2 return in increased labour productivity and decreased social costs.  The cost benefit was derived from $1 for the early childhood development benefit for children and $1in parental support. This cost benefit only exists when the child care is simultaneously delivered with an early childhood development program. [xiv]

If you truly care about quality child care, now is the time to step up! Write, fax, phone, e-mail Mike Harris. Room 281 Main Wing, Legislative Building, Toronto, Ontario M7A 1A1. Phone: 416-325-1941. Fax: 416-325-3745. E-mail: webprem@gov.on.ca.

For more information contact the Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care
E-mail: info@childcareontario.org.