“I joined the early childhood education and care sector mid-way through my career in non-profit leadership. I don’t have an ECE credential myself, but deeply appreciate the important work that ECEs do with children and families. I am in awe, each and every day, at the determination, passion, dedication and drive of early childhood educators and others working in this sector. They truly go above and beyond to create a sense of belonging for children and families and to help each child thrive. Running a child care centre is complex and sadly pits child care fees paid by parents against educator wages. In doing so, educators end up subsidizing the true cost of child care with their low wages. Despite this, we aim to continually invest in our team. In 2014 we celebrated that we had finally met our pay equity targets – but wait, those targets were set in 1994, so was it really something to celebrate?
With support of our board of directors, we’ve worked hard to improve compensation and to provide decent working conditions for our team. Despite the many gains, there is still much to do and that’s why we are Rising Up for Child Care – to build on the recognition of child care as an essential service and to demand action from provincial and federal governments. It’s only when we have a publicly-funded system that we can truly make strides towards ensuring that child care is affordable for families AND provides professional pay and decent work for educators.
On this Child Care Worker/ECE Appreciation Day, let’s reflect on the critical role of educators in supporting children’s learning, development, health and well-being. After all, everyone depends on someone who depends on child care. It’s a family issue, an economic issue, an equity issue, a children’s rights issue and a workforce issue…it’s time to #ReconstructChildCare.
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Share your story. Sign the petition. Rise up for child care.
https://www.childcareontario.org/risingup