Child Care Centre. (Photo by BlackburnNews)Child Care Centre. (Photo by BlackburnNews)
Windsor

Child Care Is Hard To Find In Windsor

Windsor is a child care desert.

That's according to a report from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA). Child care deserts are those parts of Canada without adequate access to licensed child care, irrespective of fees.

The centre shows Windsor and Regina are tied as the sixth worst cities for child care in Canada with 67% of non-school children living in a child care desert.

Tecumseh, South Central Windsor, and South Windsor have the best coverage at 99%, 76%, and 68% respectively.

East Riverside and Roseland have the worst coverage at 3% and 9% respectively.

In Essex County, East Lasalle has the best coverage with 50% and Leamington has the lowest with 9%.

The centre says making sure Canadian families have access to child care is vital for achieving a range of public goals, including closing the gender wage gap in the economy, spurring economic growth, easing the burden on struggling parents, and supporting healthy child development.

High child care fees are an obvious obstacle for cash-strapped parents, as the CCPA has documented in other reports, but a lack of locally licensed spaces will also limit the choices parents have when it comes to raising their children and re-entering the workforce.

“Rising child care fees are a barrier for parents and can fluctuate wildly depending on where you live. Now we have found there is even greater variability in child care coverage rates than in fees,” says study author and CCPA Senior Economist David Macdonald. “Policies to improve access to child care will clearly have to take both fees and availability into account.”

“Improving access to affordable child care will help close the gender gap, spur economic growth, and ease the burden on struggling parents,” Macdonald adds. “But it will do none of these things if we just focus on adding spaces without considering where those spaces are most needed. Clearly, the priority should be addressing Canada’s many child care deserts that are otherwise parched for care.”

Visit https://www.policyalternatives.ca/childcaredeserts for an interactive map.

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