Child care agreement potential bridge for workforce parents

“We’ve [definitely] heard of people trying to make that decision,” she said. “Is it worth going back to work, or if you have several kids to put in day care, is it easier just to stay home?”

Machniak added that there’s no doubt child care has been an issue for people in the workforce, specifically those who’ve been trying to get back out to work during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Many of them have been home working and their life/work balance has shifted,” Machniak said. “This will be an important piece to add more opportunities for child care for people to get back to work.”

Saskatchewan Labour excited with agreement

The Saskatchewan Federation of Labour (SFL) is calling the announcement “historic” and a “huge victory” for working families in Saskatchewan.

“This announcement has been decades in the making and is thanks to the tireless work of the many women who lobbied the government — either themselves, through an advocacy organization, or through their union — for affordable, accessible child care,” SFL president Lori Johb said in a statement.

Johb added that the SFL will look at the agreement carefully, and fight to make sure that any plan for affordable, accessible child care also needs to include a plan for good jobs in the early learning and child care sector.

“Any plan to spend federal government funding on child care should also ensure a plan for the creation of good, unionized jobs with improved wages and better working conditions for all who work in the sector,” she said.

Reaction from the federal NDP

Federal NDP leader Jagmeet Singh said the announcement will be a relief for families in the province who have been waiting for affordable child care services for decades.

“The Liberals have been promising a national childcare system for 28 years, continually breaking their promises and leaving families in Saskatchewan to pay the price,” he said in a statement.

Singh went on to explain that generations of parents and children needing child care are now more desperate for accessible child care because of the pandemic.

“Last summer, when the Liberals had the opportunity to invest in child care with their transfer to provinces, they refused to do what was needed. They have let parents, in particular mothers, suffer for longer than they should have,” he said.

Singh promised New Democrats will fight alongside child care professionals, unions and activists to make sure the Liberals finally keep their promise.

battlefordsNOW reached out to multiple child care services in the area for comment on the announcement.

—

cjnbnews@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @battlefordsNOW

by battlefordsNOW Staff

Child care agreement potential bridge for workforce parents

What's Trending