RANT – The Trouble With Childcare

I am not complaining about my current childcare provider – she is amazing and I am so blessed to have her looking after my two boys.

I am ranting about the for profit childcare organizations that exist in Canada, which I find absolutely criminal and the fact that these organizations have been contracted by School Boards to provide before and after school care.

I am not against people trying to get ahead in life, nor against companies making money by selling a service or product.  That is what makes the economy grow, prosper and be what it is.  However, there are a few things that should never be used to make a profit.  Caring for children is one of those things.

There are many articles and even songs that state “The children are our future” and yet we don’t seem to make the care of our children a priority in our lives.  I am not a stay at home mom.  Our family financially just can’t afford to have one of the adults be at home full time.  There is no support for this from the government beyond the first year of life for a child, and that is a whole other issue.

Once the support for the first year goes there is no additional monetary incentive to stay home and raise children.  Instead there is the need to work more so that you can pay exorbitant amounts to have your children in care while you work to provide for their basic needs, and I do mean basic needs.

At issue are those organizations that take in 20 kids and charge between $400 and $600 for 2.5 hours worth of care, five days per week.  Lets run some numbers.

20 kids @ $500/month = $10,000

Cost of care providers using average wage of $15.00/hr

~20 days of care @ 2.5 hours/day = 50 hours/month

50 hours/month for two care workers = 100hours/month

Total wages before any deductions = 100*15=$1500

You can’t honestly tell me that the overhead for this care is $8000/month!  Where is this money going?  Certainly there is some contribution to supplies and other events, but again…that much.  I can’t see it, it doesn’t make sense.  1/2 day care, which is 5 hours, at my own dayhome is that much.

To me this is an abuse of a need.  Parents who have their children in care and then in school are being fleeced worse than just having their children in daycare.  There is no rainy day fund  required by a company who is providing before and after school care, within the school, to children.  They don’t have to repair the space they are renting, they don’t have to provide many of the toys, they aren’t taking the children off site.  Why do they have to charge so much money for something that 75% of parents would need.

Oh wait!  It’s because 75% of parents need this care, and can’t take the time off work without reducing their pay, which in turn creates a cycle of noting being able to provide the basic necessities of life for their families.

Does this not seem criminal to you?  It certainly does to me.  I thought childcare was supposed to be less when my children started school, not more.  Ugg, how in the world can anyone get ahead when there are those who are taking advantage of a need to such an extent?  How can we teach values of caring, sharing and helping out when there are these types of organizations running rampant in our world?  Do we not care about the our children, who will care for us as we age, enough to not create added stress in families as a result of money?

I was so angry at this issue that I switched the school my son was attending because I could not support a school that allowed this type of provider to be associated with them.  To me if a school contracts this type of service, they are not interested in my children to teach and ensure they have the proper skills, they are only interested in making money.

If I could pay money for my kids to go to private school I would expect to pay such high amounts for tuition and for extra care, but not from our public system.