Scholarship News

Toronto, Ontario, Canada (AHN) – The Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) of Canada is pushing for a national child care program to ensure the country’s future economic prosperity.

The YWCA pointed out more women should be freed from child care duties as the Canadian workforce increasing relies on female workers who are educated and skilled.

The proposal is an alternative to men beginning to be more active in raising children, according to the YWCA report released Monday prior to the global celebration of International Women’s Day.

While many Canadian couples want to have both husband and wife working, the presence of young children forces women to either stay at home or seek only part-time employment. One alternative is to bring the children to child care facilities, which charge up to $60 a day and often have long waiting lists.

Despite the establishment of a national daycare program being one of the vital recommendations of the 1970 Royal Commission on the Status of Women, regulated child care in Canada is available for only 20 percent of children under 5 years old.

However, even with that limitation, employment of women with babies and toddlers grew to 64.4 percent in 2009 from 27.6 percent in 1976. For women with children with the ages 6 to 15, employment reached 79 percent.

Last year, Ontario introduced the full-day kindergarten with schools offering the service expected to reach 1,700 in 2012. YWCA Chief Executive Officer Paulette Senior welcomed the launch of the full-day kindergarten because it will permit the women to participate fully in the economic, social, cultural and political life of their communities.

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