 Posted 10/20/2006 3:14:40 PM
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| Hello. My name is Brenda and I am a Child Care Advocate. I belong to another site and was asked to post this information here as well. As new moms, soon-to-be moms and hoping-to-be moms I feel the need to share some information about governement policies that will affect you. I hope you find it helpful. If you have any questions or want more information please PM me or email me at brendaohlheiser@hotmail.com. The Conservatives favour a 'demand-side' approach to childcare where public funds would be paid directly to parents, allowing them to purchase child care on their own. The proposed Choice in Child Care Allowance Policyembodies the demand-side philosophy. I am sure you have all heard that the Conservative government will be giving parents of children under the age of six $1200 a year to be used towards child care, or as the parents see fit. That's $100 a month, which would be great, but what Mr. Harper forgot to mention while discussing this "gift" is that he will also be taxing that $1200. The overwhelming majority of Canadian families would end up with considerably less than $1200 per child. The biggest losers would be modest-income families earning in the $30,000 - $40,000 range. And because every family with a child under the age of six gets this allowance, it is inequitable. The Child Care Allowance is unfair because it would pay working poor and modest-income families smaller benefits than middle-income and upper-income families. It is doubly unfair because it would favour one-earner families over single-parent families and two-earner families. Take the example of a two-earner couple in Ontario raising 2 children (1 under 6) and earning $36,000 per year. That family would end up with only a net Child Care Allowance worth $388 - only 32.3% of the $1200 face value payment. The other part of this Child Care Allowance plan is that the Conservative party will be breaking the Child Care promise instigated by the Liberal government which was signed in 2005. That agreement was to provide $5 billion in federal funding over five years to create a quality, national child care system in Canada. Part of that funding was to go towards subsidy. If any of you parents are using child care and are on subsidy your subsidy will be cut and your fees will be raised. One other thing I wanted to mention is that your child tax credit will be reduced as well under this proposal. There is something you can do. Quebec has gotten the Federal government to promise to continue this funding for at least the next 5 years. You can help your province fight for it too! Thank you for you time and attention to this important matter.
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Posted 2/9/2007 9:56:58 PM
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| Brenda, my name is Rynanne and I am also a childcare advocate. I am writing in response to your post as there are many things happening in the world of childare these days. in British Columbia Child Care Operating Grants are being cut by $2.00 per day per three to five year old and $4.00 per day for infants and toddlers. What does this mean for parents. Well, it means that access to quality child care will be in jeopardy, also that child care fees will increase to cover these losses. As a parent and also a child care provider I am strondly encouraging parents to fight for their rights to quality care for their children. We were promised monies by the government to assist with childcare and the Universal child care benefit of $100.00 will not cover the cost of rising fees. I encouraged parents to write to their local MP's and send letters and petitions to the federal and provincial governments to let them know that we as parents will not be satisfied with these cuts and that our children deserve the best now! The early years are so very important. For parents in BC I encourage you to visit the ECEBC website to find out more information about how government cuts will affect you and your children.
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Posted 2/9/2007 11:26:25 PM
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| I'm at SAHM and my husband and I make around $25,000/year. We welcomed this $100/month with open arms. We have 2 children under the age of 6. We were not benifiting from the daycare subsities because our children have never been in daycare. I think that the universal childcare suppliment is a definate bonus for families with a stay at home parent. I do see your points about the rising costs of daycare, and for those families that need to have working parents, they need a better solution than $100/month.
Cheryl, stay at home mom to: Megan Alicia~ Born April 2, 2004 (11 1/2 hours and 7lbs 1oz) Alexander William~ Born Sept 5, 2005 (under 2 hours and 9lbs)
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Posted 2/19/2007 4:32:41 PM
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I also like the extra $100/m. I am a slightly working mom (I work p/t and sometimes it's hard to even call it that) and my Dh works f/t, our kids aren't in a daycare when I work as they go to a friend who is our sitter. Because I worked f/t and made decent money while pregnant with my second my Child tax credit is now half of what it was while I am now mostly home. The extra money may not be all that extra in the end but every little but counts for us at this point. I think they do need to find a better solution to the child care problem and that this money isn't going to fix it. But can you honestly think of something that will affect everyone and be liked by everyone?
Mom of Cole (age 4) and Carter (age 2)www.scotiapuzzles.com
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Posted 2/21/2007 2:33:19 PM
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| I'm a SAHM mom and the extra money we get is welcomed here for sure. I never really thought it was fair that all the extra funds would go to child care spaces and I'd get nothing. If they would let us do income splitting that would be fine, but they nixed that as well. Sometimes I feel like we're being punished financially since I'm actually staying home and raising my own children instead of letting someone else take care of them during the day. And before anyone jumps all over me, I know that some people don't have a choice about working. I just don't enjoy being punished because we're lucky enough to be able to afford it (or struggling through it depending on your point of view).
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Posted 2/21/2007 6:16:44 PM
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| I love being able to stay at home. My husband and I actually figured out that for me to work full time in our little town, we'd have to have a free babysitter. The cost of daycare would eat up my enitire paycheck every week. If there was a chance that I might actually be able to bring home a few hundred dollars a month, I'm not sure if it would be worth it. I would be tired from work, and I'd be missing out on a lot of time with my kids. They're little and I wouldn't want someone else to tell me that my child has done something new and I wasn't there to see it. My husband and I aren't doing horribly as far as money is concerned, but it isn't easy either. We just budget and make sure we're not doing stupid things with the little bit of extra cash we do have. I personally think more emphasis should be put on Mom's staying home. For example...I watch Rachael Ray most mornings and there was one morning when she made a comment to one of the models over 40..."You're a CEO...well thats just awesome!" I thought...what about me...I'm a stay at home, can't that be awesome too?
Cheryl, stay at home mom to: Megan Alicia~ Born April 2, 2004 (11 1/2 hours and 7lbs 1oz) Alexander William~ Born Sept 5, 2005 (under 2 hours and 9lbs)
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Posted 4/11/2007 12:40:34 PM
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| This was an added bonus to both myself and ex wife. Unfortunatley we are no longer together but the extra 100 a month is a big help. Unfortunatley it is taxed but it does come in handy. There are also other ways for parents to recieve subsidies for child care as well. Child caare can be so expensive and unless we win the lottery, it's a fact of life until my 5 year old is in school 5 days a week and my son is in JK starting in 2008. I guess it will be a blessing for them to be in school full time where child care expenses are concerned. Does anyone know of any goverment web sites or iniformation sites on single moms and subsidies for renting aprtments and for child care etc..? Thanks for reading
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