Quick
Facts on Child care in Manitoba
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There is less than 1 child care space for every 6 children under the age of 12 in Manitoba. For infants and school-aged children
and for children from rural and northern communities, the gap is even wider.
- For over a decade, more than one-third of Manitoba centres have not been able to attract and keep the required number of trained staff, due to funding shortages. The staff crisis compromises quality of child care, and is a direct result of low wages and lack of public funding.
- Almost all parents need some help with child care responsibilities. Around 95% of fathers, and approximately 75% of mothers with children under the age of 15 are in the labour force. Seven in ten mothers with preschool-aged children work for pay.
- Almost 9 out of 10 women who work outside of the home return to work within a year after giving birth.
- Studies show that $2 of social benefits flow from every $1 invested in childcare.
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Half of child care centres in Manitoba turned away a child with special needs in recent years because they couldn't afford to hire additional staff to accommodate the child's special needs.
- Wages for child care workers are equal to that of zookeepers and parking lot attendants. Child care wages in Manitoba dropped 9 - 12% in real wages over the 1990s. Although pay began to rise in 2000, wages still fail to reflect the value of the work.
- In 1996, the percentage of husband/wife families who were poor was 10.5%; if the wives' earnings were removed, 21.4% of husband/wife families would have a family income below the poverty line.
Quality child care:
- promotes school readiness
- helps build healthy communities
- helps reduce poverty
- creates jobs
- facilitates economic self-reliance
- contributes to the life-long good health of children
- aids in the building of safer communities
- strengthens appreciation for diversity
- promotes equity among classes, levels of ability, racial
and ethnic groups and generations
- improves parenting skills
This information was compiled from two bulletins: The Canadian
Centre for Policy Alternative's Care
Less? and the Centre for the Study of Family Work and Well-being's
You
Bet I Care! Fact Sheet (figures are from 2000). Updated March 2011. |
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