$10-a-day child-care switch leaves some with mixed feelings

April 1 will be a big day for Saskatchewan families, as it means parents can send kids under the age of six to regulated child-care centres for $10 a day.

It’s a move that’s being welcomed by parents, as it means they should be able to save a lot of money when it comes to their expenses. But while parents are happy, some child-care centres are still trying to figure out exactly how it will work and what it means.

Ashley Austman is the executive director at the Balgonie Early Learning Centre. She said the last month has been busy with administrative work, paperwork, and figuring out how everything will work under the new system.

While it’s welcome news for parents, she said the biggest challenge is trying to find out how her staff are going to be supported. She said the fixed rate on child-care prices won’t help them address staffing issues.

“I feel like the biggest challenge is trying to figure out how this is going to work in terms of supporting our staff. Right now, centres are locked in at specific fees and we’re not really able to increase those,” she explained.

“Right now, we’re seeing a staffing shortage overall in our field, and it’s really hard to draw people in. We can’t pay higher wages when we aren’t able to increase fees to make up that cost.”

“We’ve received some grants from the Ministry (of Education), which is great, but it’s a bit worrisome how this is going to affect things long term and how facilities are going to provide stability and high wages for staff.”

She said it’s been difficult getting people to work at the centre given that it’s in a rural area. She said it’s a challenge other rural communities are facing as well.

While the $10-a-day pricing is a step in the right direction for parents, Austman said she feels it could’ve been done differently.

“I wish they would have done this a different way. There’s no doubt there’s some centres and families that need this subsidy, but there are also some families who don’t need it and I feel like it’s money not really well spent. Maybe if it was based on income or subsidy-based, that would make more sense,” she explained.

She feels rural child-care centres have been shut out a bit, mainly because they don’t have enough staff. They also don’t have the money to support a major recruitment push, Austman added.

“We’re kind of being told that we need to create some incentive programs for people to come out and work with us, but the challenge is, where do you come up with that money when you can’t raise your fees? It makes things really challenging,” she said.

For Megan Schmidt, who works at the First Years Learning Centre in Regina, the transition has been fine for the most part. But, she said, she’s also heard centres in rural areas are having a hard time trying to get ready for the change.

“It’s a struggle for them. This completely changes everything for them, and it’s a lot of work they have to rush to accomplish in a short amount of time,” Schmidt said.

“Nothing changes a whole heck of a lot. With this $10 a day, parents will only pay $217 a month per child, and then the rest comes from the government. We’re pretty much status quo,” she added.

She feels it’s the right move for parents, but does still have some questions.

“It’s good for centres, in a way, but it’s not going to open more spaces for families. People aren’t going to be able to go back to work just because daycare is cheaper. That is certainly one piece of the puzzle, but the other piece of the puzzle is spaces,” she explained.

“Yes, the government says we have so many spaces we’re opening and a bunch of rural spaces have opened, but again, there’s nobody to work in these spaces.”

In order to address the staffing shortage, Schmidt said she hopes the province can introduce a wage grid to help recruit more people into the child-care field.