A conversation with Karen Hipson who is YWCA Toronto’s Manager of Children’s Services at Bergamot Early Learning Centre and a Registered Early Childhood Educator.
What has navigating the pandemic looked like for child care workers?
It has been very exhausting, to be quite honest. We had to stay on top of the continuously evolving requirements from the Ministry and local public health departments. We had to re-examine how we schedule our days and implement our programs. Due to staff shortages, we have been unable to fill program vacancies or hire enough relief staff. We have worked very hard to ensure we can provide a safe, caring and nurturing environment for the children in our care, but it has been hard given the distress child care workers and centres are facing.
Accessible and affordable child care is central to gender equity and women’s economic empowerment, as the pandemic has clearly shown. What concrete steps do you think parties can take to ensure the rollout of the child care agreement signed with the federal government is accessible to every family in Ontario who needs child care?
I think that the provincial government needs to support our programs in recruiting qualified dedicated professionals to work within early learning environments.
We need to ensure that child care workers everywhere are paid a minimum of $25 per hour. Paying child care workers adequate wages and providing decent work will help to address the child care workforce crisis we are currently facing in Ontario. Without our child care workers our programs cannot operate, leaving many families without care and as such unable to go to work – or forced to choose between having a family or having a career.
In order to recruit and retain staff, child care programs need access to funding that will allow them to provide a fair living wage and benefits. Funding is also needed to continuously improve and enhance the indoor and outdoor program environments.
Recognizing that even $10/day child care is out of reach for low-income families in Ontario, what do you think can be done to help ease the burden of child care costs and ensure access for these families?
It is important to ensure that we are able to continue to provide subsidized child care spaces to families who cannot afford the $10.00 a day threshold. Funding for subsidies needs to continue to be a priority in order to help households that fall below the poverty line, including workers who do not make a fair living wage and workers who are precariously employed.
I also believe we need to revisit the guidelines on how families access funding. Families have been hit hard by the pandemic and many are struggling to stay above water. We should be doing everything in our power to make life easier for these families, including subsidizing child care costs.
Why is supporting public and nonprofit-driven expansion of child care services, that offers a range of flexible models for quality early learning so important?
It is important for families in our communities to have a choice in the kind of programs that work best for them. Flexible child care options need to be available to all communities and without a reduction in quality across the sector. Some flexible and additional programming options include Early ON programming, parenting supports, inclusive spaces, and part-time, half-day and full-day child care. Ensuring access to flexible programming helps prepare children for their future. By creating environments where children can develop to their best of their ability, while putting their interests and skills at the center of the programming, our children have a chance to soar.
Why is it important to prioritize immediate support for nonprofit child care centres that are currently operating at a deficit?
It is important for the nonprofit sector to be prioritized because our reserves are significantly smaller than larger, for-profit sectors. Currently, our expenses outweigh the revenue we are generating at our centre. We are faced with low enrollment and are continuously facing a staffing shortage. To maintain a high standard of care, we need to ensure nonprofit centres are adequately funded, and this includes funding to recruit and retain staff. We cannot operate with a deficit. That will jeopardize our stainability in high-priority communities, where non-profit child care centres are often located.
What comes to mind when you hear the phrase, ‘child care workers are essential workers?'
We, child care workers, are needed more than ever and yet it has been such a challenge to maintain all that we had prior to the pandemic. We hope to have full programs again, but to have this we need staff. Throughout the pandemic, I feel we have been overlooked. It was hard to see priority funding for items such as personal protective equipment (PPE) going to schools that were closed before being shared with child care centred that remained largely open during the pandemic. I feel many do not have a true understanding of all that an early learning environment really entails and the impact this pandemic has had on our workforce. We are essential workers. While much of the world closed down, we still went to work to care for our youngest population. We care for the children while parents go to work and contribute to the economy. Just as it is crucial to ensure the health, safety and wellbeing of children, we must ensure the health, safety and wellbeing of workers.
Is there anything else you wish to share with us?
I worry about our child care workers. Work-life balance has become almost impossible. How will we rebuild our emotional well-being and reduce burnout after this pandemic? Can we really go back to some sort of norm?
Without adequate support and funding for our sector and for child care workers everywhere, I am not sure we ever will and the impact of this worries me as I think about my staff team – and the children and families we serve.
In conversation with Sami Pritchard, our Manager of Advocacy.
Photo Credit: Canva photos