Politicians and media must pay more attention to childcare

Since becoming the editor of the Georgia Straight nearly four years ago, I've learned a great deal about the challenges faced by parents of young children.

That's because we've had a bit of a baby boom at the Straight. Our health editor had two children; our arts editor had two children; one of our reporters is expecting her second child; an arts writer is expecting a baby; and our art director will soon have her first baby.

What I've learned is that childcare is outrageously expensive: an average of $996 per month in Vancouver for toddlers, according to Westcoast Child Care Resource Centre.

I've also learned that childcare is the central issue in the lives of many working women.

And I've discovered that most politicians and political parties give this issue lip service, as demonstrated by a recent article by Pieta Woolley.

In France and Quebec, middle-class women are not forced to set aside their careers and sabotage their income-earning potential because the government  refuses to recognize  the reality that women with jobs sometimes have kids.

In the rest of Canada, on the other hand, parents are left to scramble not only to find spaces for their kids, but also to  cope with outrageous costs.

Municipal governments have not always  made it easy for employers to create child-care centres at work, though that is beginning to change, according to a different article by Pieta Woolley. The federal government thinks it's good enough to write parents a cheque for $100 per month.

Pieta wrote an informative cover story on the  child-care crisis  in 2006 called Daycare Dilemma. I've encouraged her to write more on this topic for the Georgia Straight  because this issue  is often overlooked in the media.

It's time to look for real solutions for parents of young children. I can tell you that that the status quo isn't  even close to being  acceptable for most  working women, who  perform such vital roles in our company and in  the overall economy.