Thank you to Amanda Laurans, from Calgary, who wrote this letter to her MLA and gave us permission to share it.
Dear MLA Hehr:Rachel Sutherland suggested I give you my "daycare" struggle story.I am a single mother who adopted 2 Special Needs children from foster care in Calgary in late 2010. Bio brother and sister 7 & 8. My childcare bills per month are enormous. I will be spending $3000.00 per month just for daycare starting in Sept. The current subsidy for Alberta parents doesn’t cover me because I have too much income according to outdated provincial income schedules. As far as FSCD, that is completely another ball of wax.I had considered not working, and staying home with my children, but my parental leave payments from the federal government left me in such a shortfall. We lived off my line of credit during 2011. The prospect of remaining on some form of government assistance would be ridiculous and impossible considering my son’s very high needs. And his needs are what will put us on social assistance if/when I lose my job because of a lack of daycare.My daycare is a higher than the average single mother. My son has disabilities that require a specialized kind of care. There is no other facility that will accommodate my son’s special needs, and he has been ejected from regular daycare. This forces me to provide out-side the norm care which costs roughly $3000/month not to mention more costly transportation.I live modestly, I get consideration for this adoption, but I have chosen to put that amount away for their post-secondary education. The UCCB the federal government provides is a pittance compared to my costs, and the $7000/child daycare tax assistance is reduced in my case because of their ages. My last tax filing gave me a credit of $11, 000. Because I am a single parent, the single most important and costly issue I face is my daycare bill.I can’t be the only Albertan with a child that requires this kind of care, and I can’t be the only woman who is overwhelmed financially by my daycare costs. Why does the provincial government feel that punishing hardworking mothers, like me, is the answer to our province’s future well-being?Consider this:- Women typically make 75% of their male counterpart's salaries
- Women are generally considered the primary parent by law
- Single women are responsible for child care, and typically for all of the bills
- Daycare has become the single most important factor determining women’s rights and freedom in Canada.
- Raising the income threshold from $55,00/year for daycare subsidy to $75,000/year
- Single mothers could be subsidized with real assistance in the form of a government run daycare allowing them equality among their female peers.
- A better provincial daycare program would work towards better competition for spaces
- The Alberta government could provide an additional Child care tax credit/child on top of the federal government’s $7000/child up to another $5000/year.
- Better pricing regulations for daycares that are clearly out to gouge working middle class mothers.
- Better quality working conditions and pay for those Albertans who work in the daycare centres.
