YOUR PERSPECTIVE: Supporting women through reduced childcare fees

In Canada, October is Women’s History Month, and our government knows that a key way to champion gender equity in British Columbia is by bringing down the cost of child care. That’s why our B.C. New Democrat government has created one of the most ambitious and impactful child care plans British Columbia has ever seen.

Women and gender-diverse people are disproportionately affected by unaffordable child care, as they are more likely to be in lower-paying jobs and are much more likely to take on the role of caretaking which can lead to missed opportunities for them to pursue work or school. This is especially true for Indigenous women, Black women and women of colour. We know that when all parents have the chance to attend post-secondary or apply for good-paying jobs it creates a more diverse and equal workforce that benefits all British Columbians.

This has been a personal issue in my life, when for the first six years that I was a mom, I could only work jobs in the evenings or weekends because I couldn’t find child care that I could afford.

Our government’s historic child care plan has already helped reduce fees for parents, hire more staff at better wages, and created thousands of new, and more affordable child care spaces across the province. With 10,000 new spaces currently open since 2018 and 20,000 more secured, we are on track to have 60,000 child care spaces in British Columbia by 2026 in collaboration with the federal government. This is the fastest space creation in that British Columbia has ever seen.