Parklands Tour
Ethelbert, Roblin,
& Gilbert Plains
June, 2006
Our June 2006 Parklands Gender Budget Tour was a unique collaboration between the Child Care Coalition of Manitoba (CCCM) and UNPAC. CCCM approached us with the idea of working together and conducting joint workshops in the Parklands area. Immediately we thought that this was a great idea, we could travel together, share costs and learn from each other. It made sense to work with the CCCM; at all 29 workshops that we have conducted across Manitoba, we have heard continuously that childcare is a top priority and concern for women.
Our workshop remained predominately the same, except that we focused the consultation piece to be regarding childcare concerns, issues and ideas. We were fortunate to be accompanied by Nikki Isaac, Research Coordinator, from the CCCM. We held workshops in Ethelbert, Roblin, and Gilbert Plains. We met many fantastic women and heard many heartfelt stories describing the difficulties of doing paid work in small towns or rural communities where childcare facilities are extremely limited. One woman said she had to drive an hour just to get to the childcare centre, and then another to get to her job. We heard stories of year-long waiting lists for daycare and women having to quit jobs because there is no childcare available.
Lack of childcare is a phenomenon in many rural communities. Lack of opportunities for employment and low wages contributes to a lack of childcare workers. It takes an extremely long time to pay off student loans if one is working as an underpaid childcare worker. Paying back student loans and going into debt is disheartening when childcare worker wages are so meager.
Childcare needs are complex in the communities that we visited, yet we know that it is also extremely important to the health and vitality of the small town or rural community currently struggling to exist in this century. One frustrated participant shared: “I am not sure what to tell my daughter; we are all educated here, we have degrees but we don’t use them, we are at home with the kids. We are more educated than our husbands.”
For more information about the consultations please visit The Child Care Coalition of Manitoba. Data collected will be published as part of a report on childcare in the Parkland region in the fall of 2006.