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Wage subsidies
What is a wage subsidy?
Wage subsidies are paid directly to licensed child care programs by the provincial ministry of Community and Social Services to supplement staff salaries. Wage subsidies were first instituted in 1987 and increased in 1991-94. Staff in non-profit programs receive about $7,000 each in wage subsidies or about 30% of their salary. In for-profit programs staff receive about $2,500. Wage subsidies are paid to all staff working in child care centres, nursery schools and school-age programs, home child care agencies and regulated home child care providers and to staff working in family resource centres. Over 19,000 child care staff in Ontario benefit from the wage subsidy.
Why a wage subsidy?
Before the wage subsidy, child care programs had only one sources of regular funding – parent fees. Although fees increased rapidly, programs could not charge parents enough to pay reasonable salaries and still keep fees affordable. Staff in child care were notoriously underpaid compared to other workers with less responsibility and training, earning less than store clerks, parking lot attendants, zoo keepers, etc. As a result, child care programs had a difficult time finding and keeping staff.
Why is a wage subsidy important?
Good child care depends on good staff. What makes good staff? Research shows that good staff have training in early childhood education and development and receive wages consistent with their skills and responsibilities. According to research, wages and working conditions are the most important factors in attracting and keeping good staff.
What happens when child care wages are poor?
Prior to wage subsidies, staff remained in child care an average of five years. Most had a second job. Every year about one-third of all child care teachers left the field to begin other careers. What did this mean for the children? They developed a close and loving relationship with a favourite teacher only to have her quit.
What do wage subsidies mean for child care programs and parents?
Wage subsidies provide child care programs with their only stable form of funding. About 20% of a child care program’s budget is the wage grant. For parents, the wage subsidy provides a means to pay staff reasonable wages and still keep fees affordable. The wage subsidy is, in fact, an indirect fee subsidy for all parents using child care. Without it, fees would rise about $15 a day.
Government child care regulation
What are child care standards and regulations?
Regulated or licensed child care operates under the Ontario Day Nurseries Act (DNA). The Act ensures that all children attending licensed child care programs receive at least a minimum level of care. The Act is enforced by an annual re-licensing of child care programs conducted by program advisors attached to the regional office of the Ministry of Community and Social Services. Program advisors are also responsible for investigating all reported violations of the Act, including reports of unlicensed day cares or serious occurrences.
What do the regulations cover?
The highlights include:
- Staffing requirements: The maximum number of children per staff and staff qualifications.
- Nutrition: menus based on the Canada Food Guide. Children must receive one hot meal and two snacks daily.
- Health: hygiene practices, medical history and contacts, immunization of children and staff against infectious diseases.
- Program: planned activities to ensure the development of fine and gross motor skills, rest and outdoor play, language and social development.
- Nurturing: children must be treated in a manner which advances their self-esteem. Corporal punishment is prohibited.
- Safety: including fire and health inspections, criminal reference checks for all staff coming in contact with children.
- Physical space: appropriate environments for child care buildings, amount of space per child, lighting, fencing, playground structures, security.
- Monitoring: through a system of annual licensing. Home child care providers are monitored by home child care agencies.
What are the government’s plans for regulations?
The government says regulations are too “costly”. It would replace the DNA requirements with building code standards. It mentions lowering requirements for lighting and doing away with fences.
Child Care Fee Subsidies
What is a child care fee subsidy?
The provincial government provides a child care fee subsidy to 71,000 Ontario families to help them purchase care for their children in regulated child care programs. Subsidies are cost-shared with municipalities. For every 20 cents a municipality puts up for child care subsidies, the province matches it with 80 cents.
How do child care subsidies work?
Each municipality establishes its own criteria to determine which families are eligible for child care. Through “Purchase of Service Agreements” with child care centres and home child care agencies, municipalities purchase child care for the families it has approved for subsidies. No family receives “free” child care. All municipalities require the families they subsidize to pay a “user fee” which varies according to the family’s income. Not every family eligible for a subsidy receives one. Waiting lists are long – over 30,000 families are now waiting for a subsidized child care space.
Why are child care subsidies important?
Child care subsidies are important to parents. Without child care subsidies, low and moderate income families would not be able to continue to work or study. Child care subsidies are important to children providing them with safe, nurturing and stimulating environments. They also help child care programs make their services available to low income families in their communities. Very few child care programs can operate with “full-fee” parents alone, they rely on the child care subsidies paid by the municipality to operate. The provincial government estimates that as many as 50% of Ontario child care programs would close if fee subsidies were withdrawn.
What are the government’s plans for child care fee subsidies?
The government has a two-pronged attack.
- The “Who Does What” report recommends the province assume the full cost of funding for child care along with welfare. This ties child care to its workfare program by directing child care subsidies to parents “most in need”.
- Child care fee subsidies have only been available in regulated child care programs, either child care centres or regulated home child care. Now the government wants to make child care fee subsidies available to unregulated child care providers (informal care) and to a number of unregulated programs, including before and after school programs, recreation, the “Y’s”, day camps, etc.