Learn
what's happening in research, politics and propaganda:
Daycare Fact & Fiction, Ideology & Agendas
This in-depth report was compiled by H. Ward, President of Kids First
Parent Association of Canada. The latest June 2006 update is available
as a pdf document. Also available
are a condensed version with references
and links (updated March 2009), and a condensed
version with no references.
UNICEF Report on Daycare
Income Splitting/Family Taxation
Good News
Daycare Promotion by Corporate Right and Neo-Cons/Neo-Liberals
All-Day Kindergarten, Data Collection, Privacy Violation,
UBC's HELP & the EDI
Breastfeeding vs Infant Formula Industry
Daycare: Safety, Health, and Developmental Concerns
2008 Federal Election and Daycare
Child Poverty Issues
Cuts to BC Community Non-Profit Organizations Serving
Children, Families, Handicapped
Other Issues
UNICEF Report on Daycare
Innocenti Centre/OECD Report promotes daycare yet says it harms child
development
Read
the report, "The
child care transition: a league table of early childhood education and
care in economically advanced countries." Innocenti Report Card, 8.
Published by the Innocenti Centre, now a department of UNICEF. Written
by Peter Adamson drawing on research by John Bennett from the OECD's daycare
agency.
"Childcare
is bad for your baby, working parents are warned: A Unicef study suggests
that government policy is at odds with the developmental needs of children
under 12 months." December 11, 2008 London Times article on the report.
Kids
First commentary:
Daycare Lobby Co-Opting the UNICEF Brand: Children
and Parents' Rights Wronged
Metro
article by daycare lobbyist Martha Friendly
"Getting
better child care: It’s the policy, stupid"
UNICEF
says daycare lobbyists Martha Friendly and Sandra Griffin (former Executive
Director of the Childcare Federation of Canada) were the Canadians consulted
UNICEF
sets up daycare lobby leader to act as media contact before release of
UNICEF daycare report
Income Splitting/Family Taxation
Since its founding, Kids First has supported family taxation/income splitting.
As in France, family income should be 'split' considering all dependent
childrennot only adults. It is just one step towards fairly financing
the work of child care and early learning by parents or whomever parents
freely choose to do this. Family taxation helps non-parents share the
huge cost of this essential work.
Debate
on "Income Splitting" between Martha Friendly, Co-ordinator of the Childcare
Resource and Research Unit and John Williamson, Head of the Canadian Taxpayers'
Federation
Watch
Your Language! A Word on Words: "work", "stay-at-home mum", "single-earner"
Ontario
MPP Tim Hudak's "Family Fairness Bill"
Ottawa
Conference on Family Taxation May 2008 audio
Calgary
Herald article
Good News
GOOD NEWS: Recent indications that the tide is turning against discrimination
against parental child care!
Swedish
Parliament hears about the importance of parent-child attachment
Parent-Child
Attachment Now a Political Issue in Britain. New Report from ex-leader
of Conservatives says government should stop pressuring parents to use
daycare centres
Thank
you Newfoundland and Labrador for leading the way in funding child care
equality: $1,000 for birth/adoption and $100/month for first 12 months
according to a govenment
press release
New
Study from the UK Recommends $100 per Month for Parental Child Care: "Little
Britons: Financing Childcare Choice" "[D]aycare was a long way down
the list of priorities for parents in deprived families…formal childcare
was actively rejected as inappropriate in most areas." Read a description
of the study or a
discussion from a Canadian point of view.
Parents
should be paid to spend time with their children says top UK School Head
Brown
advisor calls for tax breaks for stay-at-home mums after warning over
nurseries: UK PM's policy advisor, Jay Belsky, cites negative effects
of centre-based care and asks for funding for parental child care "on
humanitarian grounds."
The
Root Causes of Addictionlove, babies and neuroscience: Listen to
a CBC radio
interview with doctor, author and columnist, Dr. Gabor Mate, currently
working with adults with drug addictions on Vancouver's downtown eastside.
He links daycare use and lack of parental nurturing with addiction.
He says "parents should be given every support to stay at home with their
kids as long as possible."
Go to April 11,2008. Click on the "PORTLAND HOTEL CONTINUED" audio link
(the other link is to interviews with his patient/addicts and nurse).
The especially relevant bits start at 9:40 minutes and 11 minutes.
Sweden
to Fund Parental Child Care--Reverses Decades of Discrimination
Daycare Promotion by Corporate Right and Neo-Cons/Neo-Liberals
Though often thought of as "left-wing," daycare and other institutional
care/learning have long been aggressively promoted by the corporate right,
which is not known for being "family friendly." Check out the child policy
of these organizations:
World
Bank's Handy Dandy Early Child Development Cost-Benefit Calculator.
Use it to "prove" the more you spend, the more you save: $1 produces $2-$17
in savings.
img src="images/arrow-sm.gif" width="4" height="8" alt="arrow" border=0 hspace=10>Feb
2010 article by Kids First President, Helen Ward, submitted to The
Tyee It’s Time Social Justice Proponents
Took a Closer Look at Child Care Policy: The Ideological Who and Why of
All-Day Kindergarten and Daycare
July
28, 2009 interview on all-day kindergarten/daycare, how money is being
shifted from welfare families to daycare and the corporate right's support
for daycare
Dr.
Strangelove and Daycare: The RAND Corporation, the biggest "think tank"
in the world, is funded
by the US military and large corporations. It pushed "universal
preschool" in California.
A new book, Soldiers of Reason: the RAND Corporation and
the Rise of the American Empire, exposes the RAND Corporation's
vast influence on the US government and ties to the World Bank. The
character of Dr. Strangelove was based on a former RAND head who promoted
nuclear war. Listen to author Alex
Abella in a CBC
interview on part 3 of The Current.
All-Day Kindergarten, Data Collection, Privacy
Violation, UBC's HELP & the EDI
Some
of the kids are all right. National Post editorial explains how "Canada is on the wrong track" with its push for all-day kindergarten.
BC
Government Report on School All Day for Ages 3 to 5, "Expanding
Early Learning In British Columbia For Children Age Three to Five"
2009, by unnamed members of the BC Government's Early Childhood Learning
Agency
Kindergarten
Parents: did you get your consent letters from HELP about data-mining
your family's private records? Read the letters: "negative opt-out"
and lack of information means your rights to PRIVACY and INFORMED CONSENT
are violated by the BC government through HELP and schools.
Government-Funded
Daycare/All-Day K Promoters Lie When they Claim Nobel-Prize Economist
Agrees with Them. Daycare and all-day kindergarten promoters including
HELP and Charles Pascal & Fraser Mustard all say
Nobel Prize Economist Dr James Heckman's research supports their
policy. This is NOT TRUE. Heckman rejects "universal" programs
and favours vouchers for very targeted under-privileged families to use
in programs run by religious and community groups of great diversity.
He says it is not known what works best but that parents are key.
Heckman Quotes
- "None of this evidence supports universal preschool programs."
- "Advocates and supporters of universal preschool often use existing research for purely political purposes."
- "People are very worried about the central government inculcating values in their children that they don't agree with."
- He hopes "that early childhood provision doesn't come to resemble a government bureaucracy," which is exactly what the daycare promoters "integrated approach" is.
Heckman quotes from
Burnaby Now article: Does
data collection put privacy at risk? HELP is the government-funded organization that drives/creates child/family/daycare policy here AND does the mega-dating mining. Family's addresses are not there but postal codes are and so is everything else.
HELP does not follow Statistics Canada procedurespersonal data is collected and linked without people knowing about it.
Data-collection is repeatedly mentioned by the OECD and World Bank as a key aspect of "early child development."
January
28, 2010 Press Release: Moratorium Sought for All-Day Kindergarten & Related Data-Mining
Notice
to Parents: Your Privacy is Being Violated
Kick
Big Brother Out of School: Government Collecting "Sperm to Worm" Personal
Data of All BC Children then Using it to Push All-Day Kindergarten
BC
Minister of Education on spending on all-day kindergarten and school for
0-5 year olds despite cuts to other school funds. Jan
21 2009 CBC radio BC Almanac interview - about half way through podcast.
The Early Development Instrument (EDI) Kindergarten questionnaire
EDI
in English
EDI
in French
Teachers'
Guide in English
Teachers'
Guide in French
from Offord Centre for Child Studies
The
EDI (Early Development Instrument): Are over 25% of
young kids "vulnerable," "not ready to learn," "at risk," "developmentally
behind?" Find out where this "data" comes from and what it means.
November
25, 2009: The
cost of a free lunch: The real costs of the Pascal early learning plan
for Ontario by Andrea Mrozek, Manager of Research and Communications,
Institute of Marriage and Family Canada
Press
Release: The
Real Costs of Full-Day Kindergarten in Ontario
October 26, 2009: BC
School Trustees Say Delay All-Day KindergartenNeed More Cash
Sept
29, 2009 interview on HELP and data collection
Press
Release, Sept 2009: Replace Anti-Parent Activist
at Peace Summit Says Parent Group
Kids
First Parents Association of Canada Exposing All Day Kindergarten Dis-Information:
Clyde Hertzman of UBC's Human Early Learning Partnership Misleads the
Public
Sept
8,2009 Globe and Mail editorial "Making
the Case Against Universality"
Academic
Outcomes: All-Day K for 3-5 Could be HarmfulCanadians Outperform
Swedes & French on OECD Exams
June
2009: All-day Kindergarten proposal in Ontario
Helen
Ward on The biggest investment scam
out there: All-day kindergarten (link to the original
April 1, 2009 National Post article with comments)
"Scam"ABC's
20/20 on Universal Preschool
The
more you spend the more you save? Exposing the false economy of daycare/preschool
cost-benefit analysis
Costs:
Daycare, pre-school, all-day kindergarten (pdf
brochure or html version)
Big
Brother Goes to Kindergarten: BC Government Collecting "Sperm to Worm"
Data on all BC Children (Kids First May 6, 2009 article)
Big
Brother Goes to Kindergarten: BC Government Violating Parental and Privacy
Rights in "Sperm To Worm" Kindergarten Data Collection (no informed consentsee
copies of letters to Kindergarten parents for data collection)
Background
to All-Day Schooling: Daycare Lobby Strategizing at Taxpayer Expense
The Unhurried
Day: Learning and Caring Seamlessly, Integration Network Project
November 2005 Symposium report
The OECD's idea of All-Day Kindergarten for ages 3-5 was established
in Canada with the secretive strategizing of the daycare lobby. This
tax-funded symposium brought daycare lobbyists together with education
and daycare ministry staff. The item had been removed from the web.
Background
to All-Day Kindergarten: The "Integration" Agenda to Merge Daycare and
School
- The BC Ministry of Children and Family Development funded the speech
by Royal Bank VP, Charles Coffey, through the Human Early Learning
Partnership.
"It's clear that business has a vested interest in supporting and influencing the development of sound public policy, as business has a stake in early learning and child care outcomes"
"Key stakeholders have come together to endorse this speaker series. It's supported by ... funding from the BC Ministry of Children and Family Development through the Human Early Learning Partnership."
- Article by Lenira HaddadOECD speech witer: "Integrated
policies for early childhood education and care: challenges, pitfalls
and possibilities." She writes, "the challenge is to attain greater state participation, including provision for all child development stages from birth to entry into formal schooling, to avoid the tendency to revive the idea of family primacy over early childhood.”
- Kids First submission
to BC Early Learning Agency on all-day schooling for 3 to 5 year olds
- Background documents: Who is pushing
all-day schooling for little kids? The OECD, the Integration Network,
the World Bank and the Human Early Learning Partnership (HELP) at
UBC.
- Where the All-Day Schooling Agenda Comes
from: The "Integration" of School and Child Care in the OECD's "New
Order" According to the quoted report, the “ideology of the family”
is a problem and must be replaced by “a new order. This includes deep
changes in societies in general and in the family’s structure in particular...a
review of the family-state relationship regarding the responsibility
for the care and education of children.”
- The World Bank Partnering
with the Human Early Learning Partnership (HELP): HELP-ing Build Big
Brother's Village
- 2006 Paper by OECD child policy head J. Bennett, "Toward
a new pedagogical meeting place? Bringing early childhood into the
education system." Integration is pushed despite admitting
negative effects of "schoolification in Sweden" and finding
"there is little up-to-date research evidence about the process
or the consequences."
- Giant
"Military-Industrial Complex" think tank RAND finds low quality pervasive
in California daycare/preschool system, but holds out promises
that it can be better. (RAND is thus covering its ass with caveats
about the policy it pushes while kids and parents are ripped off)
RAND
Child Policy
RAND publication
related to preschool/daycare and "welfare reform" (i.e. kicking
families of fwelfare and giving the $ to daycare and workfare)
- RAND
Corporation study shows later kindergarten start (age 6 years
or 72 months) produces better academic scores. See the charts on pages
110-112
How
to fix boys: In this Maclean's article, psychologist Leonard Sax says
research shows early schooling is especially harmful to boys
"Stakeholders"
list excludes public and parents. Government's list of groups consulted
and/or invited to participate in secretive "public" consultation:
daycare lobbyists, public sector unions, school-tied professionals, and
businesses are favoured with invitations while parents are not.
Deadline
extended to August 15 for submissions to BC Early Learning Agency on all-day
schooling for 3 to 5 year olds: Ministry
of Education news release, July 18 (original deadline)
Irony:
Fewer Kids in School=More School
Clyde Hertzman, head of the Human Early Learning Partnership
(HELP) leading the consultation on all-day kindergarten advises expanding
schooling for children under age 5 using funds saved by declining school
attendance. CBC Radio
One "Ideas", Wednesday, July 16, 2008. "Sick People or Sick Societies?"
Part 2
"Strong Start" drop-in kids (age 0-5) to be counted in formula for school-capital
funding. Daycare kids may also be counted. Schools to provide cheap
rent for some private daycares. Maple Ridge News(Vancouver area)
article: 12
new daycare centres to open in district schools
Abandoning bricks-and-mortar schools for Internet classrooms. 48,000
kids expected to enrol in BC. Excerpts from the
Globe and Mail article: Thousands choosing computers over classroom
Kids
First on CKNW with Christie Clark on all-day schooling for ages 3-5.
BCTF opposed to schooling for ages 3-4. Go to Wednesday July 9, 12 pm,
and go to 37 minute mark. Note: HELP, which leads the all-day K consultation,
told CKNW they could not participate in this interview due to their government
contractsbut HELP has been active in the media elsewhere (see CBC
Radio's "Sick People or Sick Societies?" Part 2 and the Vancouver
Sun article).
Biased
Consultation: All five "Experts in the Field of Early Childhood Education"
listed by the BC Government for the consultation are from HELP (Human
Early Learning Partnership), including Hillel Goelman, HELP Director and
author of the 2007 Vancouver Sun article describing and demanding
all day schooling for ages 3-5
"Research"
the BC government is using in all-day schooling consultation: The
list provided by the Ministry of Education at our request reveals a great
deal of material by daycare lobbyists and their organizations, most of
it not peer reviewed (M. Friendly, J. Beach, Cleveland, Krashinsky, G.
Doherty, J. Bertrand, L. Anderson, Hillel Goelman, Alan Pence, HELP, RAND,
OECD, F. Mustard, McCain, P. Kershaw , R. Mahon, Perry Preschool, etc).
HELP
Findings that Contradict HELP's Promotion of Early Schooling/Daycare
Institutionalized
daycare in the spin cycle: an article by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation
Toronto
Sun article: Study
the Real Costs of All-Day Kindergarten
Reality
checkCosts of all day schooling/daycare: BC Government says
it's studying costs of all day kindergarten for age 3-5, but no costs
are mentioned in the consultation paper.
$11,500/yr/child age 2-5: Quebec spending on
daycare operation costs onlycapital, training, bureaucracy, pension
funds are more (Low
Fee Regulated Childcare Policy, CIRPEE, p. 22 footnote)
$26,972/yr/child age 1-5: Sweden's
spending on daycare/preschool
High
Costs and Low Quality
Quebec government study finds 73% of licensed daycare
there is of minimal or lower quality.
The OECD find "a problem of quality" and "deteriorating quality" in
Swedish daycareyet holds it up as a model for all (OECD
Country Note Early Childhood Education and Care Policy in Sweden
p .29, 30)
Swedish
Ministry of Education report finds low quality: too many children
per staff, inadequate facilities and training, too much academic pressure
on children harms learning.
Is
the BC government responding to KF's complaint of secrecy in consultation
process? See article in The Province: Earlier
start and full-day kindergarten being considered
BC
Government press release re: consultation on all-day schooling for
3-5 year olds (after Kids First reported there has been no press release)
Is
full-day schooling for ages 3-5 a foregone conclusion? The UBC body promoting
more institutional child care announces "Universal 'Child Care' Coming"
before the so called "consultation" has even taken place or the "agency"
to discuss it has been formed. Read more.
June
27, 2008 Press Release: BC government conducting secret "public" consultations
Join
the latest unpublicized public consultation by the July 18 deadline.
The BC government needs responses to the proposed full day schooling
for ages 3-5. The "consultation" paper is vague on any specifics (example:
no information on costs, research is mentioned but not actually named,
"high quality" is not defined) and highly biased in favour of expanding
tax-funded schooling to very young children. Kids First is preparing a
full response. For more, click "consultation paper" at http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/ecla/
Kids First letter of Feb 29,
2008 to BC Minister of Education requesting to be involved in consultation
on full day schooling for ages 3-5
BC Ministry of Education response of Mar
4, 2008 to Kids First request for equitable parental participation in
talks on full-day schooling for ages 3-5
Kids First Requests names of "stakeholders"
invited to all-day schooling consultations, but Ministry
of Education reply does not provide list of those invited to consultation
or list of those involved in ECLC
BC Ministry of Education response to Kids
First request to know who is on the Early Childhood Learning Agency
does not name "parent groups" or "stakeholders" involved
New
Brunswick government gives early learning curriculum to parents and daycares.
(Should the state be fixating on regulating families while deregulating
business?) Read the Daily Gleaner article "Province
to unveil curriculum for preschool children today"
Battles
at the all-day schooling trough: The Elementary Teachers’ Federation
of Ontario (ETFO) recommends a maximum-cost approach to full-day schooling
for 3 to 5 year olds: certified teachers, classes in schools
BC
Considering Full-Day Schooling for 3- to 5-year-olds:
All-Day Schooling for Ages 3
to 5?
Feb 13, 2008: Times - Colonist
Excerpts. Victoria, B.C
UBC's
Human Early - HELP - Pushes for Universal All day Preschool, Vancouver
Sun Sept 2007: HELP has 3 members the BC Provincial Child Care (daycare)
Council and considerable policy influence. WARNING: misrepresentation
of evidence, costs/benefits based on inapplicable Perry Preschool findings,
confusing use of terms "high quality," "child care," and "preschool"
HELP announces 'Universal "Child Care"
Coming' yet the Education Minister says full-day K for age 3 to
5 is just an idea they are planning to explore. So is it a done deal
with no parent consultation?
Full-Day
Schooling for 3-5 is Daycare Through the Back Doorarticle in
Hamilton Spectator by Kate Tennier
See
the TVO
debate on daycare and full-day kindergarten for 4 and 5 year olds.
Charles Pascal, the Ontario advisor on full-day schooling for tots, and
daycare economist Gordon Cleveland win our BEER AND POPCORN AWARD for
contemptuous attitudes towards parents and our DAYCARE DISINFORMATION
AWARD for misleading information. Click on the Dec 5 episode.
Nov.
30 2007Kids First President Helen Ward and activist Kate Tennier
in Ottawa Citizen on push for full-day Kindergarten: More
School isn't Always Better
Ontario
teacher speaks out against all-day kindergarten
Head
Start, Sure Start, Success by 6... Questioning the benefits of pre-school:
We need to ask if children would be better off if the huge sums of public
money going into these programs, related bureaucracies and research went
directly to their parents.
Preschool
for all? - No Thanks: article from Australia
£20
million study finds £3 billion program ineffective: British
"Sure Start" preschool
"Free"
daycare through the back door: The push for full-time school for ages
3-5.
In Ontario, the Liberals and NDP make full-day school for
age 4-5 an election promise and disregard kindergarten child:staff ratios
of 20:1Full-day
kindergarten no treat for kids (a Hamilton Spectator article by
Kate Tennier)
Open
letter demands full-day schooling for age 3-5 and daycare: the letter
claiming disproven Utopian social and economic benefits for preschool
and daycare is sponsored by maritime heiress Margaret McCain and signed
by daycare lobby voices.
Breastfeeding vs Infant Formula Industry
New
evidence that non-parental child care reduces breastfeeding and increases
"risk of overweight at least during infancy." Article in UK Telegraph:
Putting
babies in childcare "makes them fatter"
Breastfeeding:
Upholding the World Health Organization's Code in Canada
Breast-feeding
gets cold shoulder in B.C. hospitals: Article in the Georgia Straight
Breast-milk
brouhaha at Burnaby Hospital: Article in the Georgia Straight
Breastfeeding
consultants resign: Article in Burnaby Now
Daycare: Safety, Health, and Developmental Concerns
24/7/365
available daycare is a goal of some daycare proponents. All-week
daycare in East Germanya mother tells of her own and her child's
story
Increased
antibiotic resistance, infections, and use of prescription medications:
Health
implications of children in child care centres Part B: Injuries and infections
High-quality
affordable daycare? There's never enough money or staff. Alberta Liberal
and NDP MLAs and daycare operators oppose Alberta's effort to slightly
improve the quality of infant daycare. "Day-care
operators leery of new rules:" Calgary Herald (Sept 20, 2008)
Vancouver
Sun newspaper sets up website
on Vancouver area daycare inspection results and risk ratings
Vancouver
Sun article: Daycares
Lost Track of Children 230 Times Over 5 Years
Research
on the Negative Health Impacts of Daycare Centres
Washing
their Hands of ResponsibilityKeeping Daycare Centres Clean: The
Impossible Dream?
Children
in daycare centres have higher levels of stress measured by testing cortisol
levelsBBC News article.
Daycare
staff:child ratios & "quality": bad and getting worse
(July 21, 2005)
"Appropriate"
Staff:Child Ratios in "Quality" Daycare: A Politically Sensitive Topic
(July 18 2005)
A
Stanford and Berkeley study of over 14,000 children finds pre-school/daycare
harms social development.
"The UC Berkeley-Stanford study found that all children who attended preschool
at least 15 hours a week displayed more negative social behaviors such
as trouble cooperating or acting up, when compared with their peers. The
discrepancies were most pronounced among children from higher-income families."
Note: No research has demonstrated that "moderate" advantage in cognitive
tests for children in "high quality" preschool/daycare endure in the long
term.
Note: The majority of daycares in the US and Canada have been found to
be of low quality.
Read more about the studies: New
report examines effects nationwide of preschool on kids' development
and Loeb's
study on preschool finds bright side, dark side
A
Critical Review of Daycare for Under 3s
More
on Dumping Kids in Day Care: A blog by Dr. Rod Moser, PA, PhD
2008 Federal Election and Daycare
4
Parties' 2008 Election Platforms for Children's Care and Well-being
A
Victory for Parents and Kids: NDP Switcheroo on Funding Parents
Letter
to the Toronto Star Editor in response to: "Daycare spaces or $100 cheques?"
Beer,
Popcorn and… Poppycock: NDP Talks with Kids First
Jack
Layton Insults Parental Child Care, Replays Lie that Daycare Reduces Violence
Archived
Interviews on Child-Related Policy in Election Campaign with Kids First
President, Helen Ward
- Archived
on CKNW. Go to Sept 21 at 1:00 pm. The interview starts at minute
9:30.
- Archived
on CKNW. Go to Sept 14 at 1:00 pm. The interview begins at about
1:10.
Child Poverty Issues
Measuring
Canadian "Child Poverty"Charts Showing Actual Incomes Called the
Poverty Line
Statistics
Canada article on different low income measures
Low
Income in Canada: 2000-2007 Using the Market Basket Measure - August 2009
Cuts to BC Community Non-Profit Organizations Serving Children, Families, Handicapped
Feb
15, 2010: CBC
radio interview with Helen Ward, Kids First President on all-day Kindergarten,
and BC government cuts to family services as part of an "integrated approach." Go to 1:02 to hear interview
Vancouver Sun article Feb 12, 2010: Province
to cut $10 million from community services for children, families
Burnaby Now article Feb
10, 2010: "Looming
cuts worry Burnaby Family Place"
Burnaby Now blog: Ministry of Children and Family Development warns of cuts to come
Agreement
between the Ministry of Education and BC Assocaition of Family Resources
Programs
- acknowledges tension between Strong Start drop-in programs in school run by the Ministry of Education and non-government services like family drop-ins
- expires July 1, 2010
E-mail
to organizations about upcoming cuts
Letter from the BC Ministry of Children and Family Development states that "preference will be given to agencies that provide a continuum of MCFD services to support an integrated approach to service delivery."
An "integrated approach" refers to a "new paradigm" policy of "shared responsibility" between the state and parents in child rearing combined with "strong partnership with the private sector."
E-mail to organizations about meeting on February
12, 2010same day as Olympics open
Other Issues
Is
All-Day K Needed to Ease Daycare Shortage? Daycare Vacancy Rate Over
7% in Toronto
Daycare
Lobby Head is a Top Bureaucrat in BC's Mininstry of Children and Family
Development
OECD Statistics
on enrollment in daycare, preschool, kindergarten
UK
Prospect article: "The
mother of all paradoxes: Stronger maternity rights can help mothers, but
they will hurt employers and women in general." Daycare proponents
now argue for extending parental leave to 18 months and requiring fathers
to take a portion in the name of "gender equity." Dr Catherine Hakim shows
this contradicts the evidence.
Canadian
Teens Out-Score OECD Average and Sweden on Academic Tests. See charts
on page 60-64 of "Measuring
Up: Canadian Results of the OECD PISA Study The Performance of Canada's
Youth in Science, Reading and Mathematics: 2006 First Results for Canadians
Aged 15"
BBC
news item: Parents
giving children alcohol 'fuels binge drinking'
"Our
Phony Economy." A Harper's Magazine article. Simon Kuznets invented
the GDP but opposed using it as if it measured all production: “The volume
of services rendered by housewives and other members of the household
toward the satisfaction of wants must be imposing indeed,” he wrote.
PowerPoint
slides accompanying presentation to the 2009 BC Home School Convention:
"From Paragons to Parasites: Mums
Choosing to Lose Our Work-Life Balance"
"Real choice" in child care through direct funding to parents is
championed by leading child development researcher internationally:
Effects
of Child Care on Child Development: Give Parents Real Choice by
Jay Belsky
Institute for the Study of Children, Families and Social Issues
Birkbeck University of London
March, 2009
Social
policy "ruining childhood": Childhood is being undermined by a string
of "oppressive demands" from ministers disguised as social policy, experts
have claimed. June 2009 article in Telegraph.co.uk
Pregnant
woman and babies should not eat deli meat
A
brilliant answer to the "feminazis" who hate mums who look after their
own childrenAtlantic Monthly article: I Choose
My Choice
Thank
you to Newfoundland and Labrador for leading the way in funding parental
child care: $1,000 for birth/adoption and $100/month for the first 12
months
Australians
debate "means testing" for the $5,000 per child birth bonus promised for
July 1, 2008 to increase birthrates
Interview
with Canadian Dr. Elliot Barker, child psychiatrist and founder of
the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Children. He sees lack of empathetic
parenting and consumerism as the roots of criminality.
The
OECD and Canada's Daycare Lobby: Ties Denied
The
OECD: Globalizing Daycare Lobby Ideology
Daycare
Turf Wars: For-Profit Big Box vs. Non-Profit Big Box vs. State-Run Big
Box exposing the spin and re-framing the debate in favour of funding
parents not boxes
Spring
2008Kids First Submission
to the Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science, and Technology re:
OECD "Starting Strong II" Report
Mustard
Calls Quebec Study "chicken shit", McCain Accuses Authors of Denying Breastfeeding
Benefits
Mustard’s
Contempt for Parents: “17% of parents are godawful” and only one third
of us are “competent” says World Bank backed daycare lobbyist, Dr. Fraser
Mustard in a Toronto Star article
Senate
Committee Hears from Daycare Lobby but not Parents
Transcripts
of Senate Committee Hearings on Child Care
Billionaire
McCain Displays Contempt for Low-Wage Nannies
OECD
Underestimated Early Education FundingOnly Counted Spending on Kindergarten
Letter
in Hill Times Embassy Magazine, March 12th, 2008 in response
to original article published Feb 20, 2008: "Canada
Lagging in Early Education Funding"
Survey
by Ipsos Reid for Federal government finds Canadians want choice and support
for parents
Article: "Who
should be caring for very young children?" in The Medical Journal
of Australia
NAFTA Means US "Big Box" Daycare Chains Can Get
Canadian Taxpayers' Dollars: A legal opinion for Canadian Union of
Public Employees CUPE) says because of NAFTA daycare must be STATE-RUN
not just state-funded to keep out US chains. Another
legal opinion refutes CUPE lawyers.
Corporate
Welfare: Labour Force expansion policies: The OECD and the World Bank
seek a larger, globalized, more "flexible" Labour Force. Importing low-wage
labour means higher profits through lower wages. This Guardian article
describes the situation in Europe. "Putting more women to work"--the name
of an OECD colloquium--through de-funding families and funding daycare
has the same effect. Both the OECD and the World Bank vigourously promote
funding daycare over parental care.
Care
Control Revolution: UK moves away from state control of care decisions
to provide direct cash benefits to elderly and disabled for care costswhy
not parents? The Health Minister calls this a “radical transfer of
power from the state to the public” and speaks about the elderly getting
“self-determination and maximum control over their own lives.”
BBC News Elderly
to get personal care cash
Telegraph Elderly
set free, but children shackled
Daycare
Bill C-303 Update Nov 2007: Liberal MP's Letter Reveals Bill C-303 is
about Political Games, not Keeping "Big Box" Daycare Chains Out
Welsh
parent says switch to parental care after 4 years of daycare eliminated
son's problematic behaviour revealing his true character.
Britain's
Daily Mail finds Swedish woman are asking for an end to daycare discrimination:
women are far from equal after 30 years of policy discriminating against
parental child care. Parents in Britainand Canadatake note!
Flexi-hours
and longer maternity leave: A trimph for feminism? Anything but!
WORKING
MOTHERS
Most mothers are not at full-time paid jobs. Only about 6%not
70% as we are toldof mothers of children under 3 are at full time
jobs.
These graphs present a breakdown of mothers'
labour force participation rate statistics from the OECD. Labour
force statistics have been misused to argue for high demand for daycare
centres and preferential funding for daycare over parental care. We
recognize that every mother is a working mother.
Statistics
Canada: More mums are breastfeeding longer after Employment Insurance
leave increased from 6 months to 1 year
Article:
"Parents of babies to be given 'learning diaries' so experts can monitor
children"lots of cash for studying parents but not for parents
Kids
First Submission Opposing Discriminatory Bill C303 (in
English and in French)
Take
action against Bill C-303 on early learning and child care
National Institute for Child Health and Human
Development Child Care Outcomes StudyReport of Findings to Grade
5 and 6: The study defined "child care" as non-maternal care over
10 hours per week. The main findings were that children who were
in daycare centres had higher levels of behavioural/social problems such
as aggression and cruelty, which continue without reduction; high quality
child care is associated with better vocabulary scores than low quality
child care; high quality child care is found most often in dad and grandparent
care (the study previously estimated only 9% of child care settings were
high quality).
Another
tax-funded daycare lobby cash cow feeding at the "child care" trough
Motherlove,
crime and addiction: lessons learned from lab rats by Chella Turnbull
A
fairer way to fund child care: Montreal Gazette. Correction to info
in article: Quebec pays up to $60/day/child ($15,700/yr) to daycare centres
to subsidize operation costs. Regulation, capital, training, etc are additional
costs. Only 21% of Quebec children aged 1-5 are in daycare centres.
What
Stats Can is not telling us: charts of daycare use for ages 6 mos-5 yrs
and ages 6-11
Comments
on Child Care Spaces Report
Federal
Budget 2007: Good NewsBad News
Kids
First in the news
Swedish
family policy has not led to equality for women according to the UK
Guardian: "For
decades we've been told Sweden is a great place to be a working parent.
But we've been duped."
Swedes
opposing Swedish daycare and family policy:
On daycarism in Sweden
by Jan-Ola Gustafsson
Katarina Runske 1989 speech
Katarina Runske 1994 speech.
Read
excerts from Patricia Morgan's book, Family Policy, Family ChangesSweden,
Italy and Britain Compared:
Sweden: Socialist Engineering in Family Policy
Overview and Conclusions
Read a short resume of Patricia Morgan's new book
that talks about research on family policy in Europe, which finds that...
- Sweden has most sex-segregated work force in Western world
- Cheap daycare does not produce higher birthrates
- Huge numbers of "working" Swedish mothers are off work
Swedish
intolerance in child care
Swedish
Government Report Critiques Appalling Daycare Conditions (July 15
2005)
Swedish
report to the United Nations
Swedish
legal case involving a family wishing to care for their own child
Rising
Violence Against Swedish Women Despite Gender Equity Promotion
The
Failure of European Family Policy: Does Daycare Raise Birthrates in
Sweden? Dr. Allan Carlson, historian of Swedish family policy, demonstrates
the falseness of the claim that Sweden has overcome sub-replacement fertility
rates: policy that coerces mothers into jobs and favours daycare lowers
birthrates.
New
Vanier Institute Report: The
Rise in the Number of Children and Adolescents Who Exhibit Problematic
Behaviors: Multiple Causes
Kids First summary
Press Release
Globe
and Mail article and readers' comments
Recent related reports:
- UNICEF
report finding Canadian children rating low in peer & family
relationships, behaviour & risks, and subjective well-being (see
chart, p. 4)
- Statistics
Canada report finding lower amounts of time spent with family
Daycare
Supply and Demand
Is
there a labour shortage and should mothers have to fill it?
Kids
First Input for Child Care Spaces Initiative Consultations
Parents
vs State Intervention in Child-Rearing: Clarifying our Roles
Liberal
policies:
From pensions for "stay at
home mums" to beer and popcorn: How the Liberal party reversed its policy
on children and families
Read the pro-parent Liberal Government Report
on Tax Equity for Families with Dependent Children
Mum
professor seeking input from "at-home" parents for book
Daycare
Dis-information Buster: What it really means when they say "The reality
is that 70% of mothers are working"
Hutchinson
v. BC: BC Human Rights Tribunal rejects Ministry of Health discrimination
against hiring family as care providers. This case has implications for
funding of other forms of care including child care.
Review
of Ann Crittenden's book, If You've Raised Kids You Can Manage Anything
The
daycare lobby is using the "UN Convention on the Rights of the Child"
to argue for more daycare. They avoid mentioning the primacy given the
family and the parent-child relationship throughout the document.
Kids
First Responds to Some Concerns
Governor
Teaches a Preschool Lesson: An article at NRO by Carrie Lukas about
the states rejecting universal preschool as costly, ineffective and interfering
in the family sphere
New
survey finds over 80% of Canadians prefer parental care
What
is Feminism? Pop-Culture Shocker: TV Cartoon Tackles Mums' Work Choices
Dangerous
superbug sweeping across nation, officials say: An article at globeandmail.com
by Helen Branswell
New
Daycare Poll: Ripped Off, Dumbed Down & Shut Up
Mothers'
Day Proclamation 1870: No Brekky in Bed
Response
to Dr. Hillel Goelman's article "Time to get past child care myths"
Do
children become criminals without government-licenced daycare and preschool?
Carolyn Bennett, Toronto MP and candidate for Liberal leadership, said
it's good the government is building more prisons because we'll need them
since they are canceling the daycare deals.
For more information see ProudToBeCanadian
and click "Liberals endorse Conservative Jail-Building Plan."
Mike Duffy gives Ms Bennett a chance to explain herself. She says it's
"early learning" that is needed. See http://www.ctv.ca/canada
Go to "Mike Duffy Live" and click the Bennett link.
Child-care
battle rages: a Toronto Star article
More
beer and popcorn: a Winnipeg Sun article
Daycare or Prison: Does $1 Spent on Daycare
Save $7? Helen Ward of Kids First responds to Dr Bennett's comment.
Perry
Preschool Propaganda Project Reality Check: Daycare: The More You Spend,
The More You Save!!!???
Major
study from University of London, England: What is known about the long-term
economic impact of centre-based early childhood interventions?
"Politicians and policy-makers should stop basing the case for expanding
early years provision on old, inaccurate and decontextualized data about
long-term economic benefits, a research study has concluded." Read
more.
Kids
First and the New Universal Childcare Allowance
Kids First a Focus at PM's Child Care Policy Visit to BC: Read
the Kids First report and Prime
Minister Stephen Harper's news release. Read the Vancouver
Sun, CTV
and CBC
reports.
Neither
Conservative nor Liberal Daycare Plan Addresses Equality: Published
in The Hill Times, Letters, April 24, 2006
Daycare
Dis-information BusterWaitlists: Child-care
lobby’s numbers are a joke: A Winnipeg Sun article by Tom Brodbeck
Dutch and US 'Feminazis' Condemn University Grad Mothers who Reduce their
GDP-Sector Time:
Behind
the baby gap lies a culture of contempt for parenthood: An article
by Madeline Bunting published in The Guardian that points out how
women's unpaid care-work is worth more than entire GDP
Best-selling
author on parenting, therapist Steve Biddulph: "My warning to parents
is simple: one in five children put into nursery early will develop mental
health problems"
Minding
the Baby Rebecca Abrams' review in The Guardian of Sue Gerhardt's
book Why Love Matters: How Affection Shapes a Baby's Brain
Every
Mother is a Working Mother in Venezuela: Unpaid Home-Workers of Venezuela
Fight Bureaucrats to Assure President Hugo Chavez's Revolutionary Promise
of Remuneration
Media
Release April 24, 2006: Parent Group Says Government Must Cut Funding
to Daycare Lobby Now
Press
Release March 1, 2006: Caregivers from around the world meet in New York
seeking recognition Kids First representatives are in attendance.
Fund
the child, not the system: An article by Kate Tennier published in
the Globe and Mail on Monday, February 13, 2006.
FUND
THE CHILD vs FUND THE SPACES: Kids First Responds to Caledon Institute
Report that $1,200 could be $388 for Low Income Families
Fund the child, not the system: by
Kate Tennier and published in the Globe and Mail on Monday, February
13, 2006.
Daycare
Dis-information Buster: Daycare is Not MedicareComparing Apples
and Oranges
Daycare
Dis-information Buster: Under 10 % of Children in Daycare
Daycare
Dis-information Buster: Creating False Impressions with "Child Care" Words
and Numbers
Reality
Check on Quebec Daycare: Research Finds Low Quality, High Costs, Negative
Outcomes, Worse Family Finances
The
Fund the Child Coalition Canada-Wide Event
for International Children's Day was held on Nov 19-21. Read about
our formal Complaint to the United Nations.
Speaking Notes for the Fund the
Child Press Conference
Kid
First Presentation to Federal Finance Committee 2005Transcript
Corporate
Right World Bankers Lobbying for DaycareSpeech
Letter
to the Editor Re: Dis-information in Article by Top Daycare Lobbyist,
Martha Friendly
Daycare,
Low Income and the Left
Violent
Youth and Child Care
Reality Check: Maybe We Ought to Ask...What
Does Daycare Cost?
Media Release December 12, 2005: "Daycare
and 'Beer-Gate': Accountability, Hate and Lies"
Sept 29 Media Release: Daycare Mis-Information
Exposed
We Need a Moratorium on Paul Martin's National
Childcare Program
Reality
Check: Misleading BC Daycare Info Corrected
Read this August 2005 report in pdf format.
July 2005 Update
Does Daycare Lower 'Child Poverty' and
Get Mums into Jobs? Quebec Experiment Results: No
Daycare
does not lower "child poverty" or increase mothers' labour force participation
(August 26, 2005)
International Women's Day Update & Real Equality
Financial Post March 7, 2005: "Kids First
response to CAW union on daycare funding"
Media release March 2, 2005: "Kids First
Response to Federal Budget & Child Care Funding"
Media release February 9, 2005: "Message
to Fed-Prov Territorial Meeting: Legal Challenge Sought to Daycare Discrimination"
CBC commentary—Beverley Smith—Dec
28, 2004
The
Politicized Science of Day Care: A Personal and Professional Odyssey:
A paper (in pdf format) by Dr Jay Belsky, a leading researcher with the
US NICHD who is now at the Birkbeck University of London.
Royal
Bank of Canada Vice President Charlie Coffey speaks of the "business imperative"
in "Early Child Development," which means daycare. Speech
text
Video
of speech
Calgary
Sun Dec 13, 2005: Grits are scary on child care
Research
on Daycare and Low Birthrates
July
30, 2005: Premier advances N.B. position on federal gas tax return, child-care
funding
Recent findings on negative outcomes for children
and parenting in the Quebec system
"Universal
Childcare, Maternal Labor Supply and Family Well-Being" by Michael
Baker (University of Toronto), Jonathan Gruber (MIT) and Kevin Milligan
(University of British Columbia).
From the study:
"We uncover striking evidence that children are
worse off in a variety of behavioral and health dimensions, ranging
from aggression to motor-social skills to illness. Our analysis also
suggests that the new childcare program led to more hostile, less consistent
parenting, worse parental health, and lower-quality parental relationships."
Note that child:staff ratios have been raised since the data used was
collected and are now 8 children age 1 per staff. This would worsen
outcomes.
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