Equality doesn't happen without universal daycare

Many women's careers hinge upon it, says Ingrid Söchting.

The outdated anti-daycare opinions expressed in The Vancouver Sun by Tasha Kheiriddin on Dec. 2 only serve to maintain a gender stereotypical agenda and world view.

Until we are able to offer access to high-quality and affordable child daycare, we will not see a more equal society. Forget about equal representation of women. The cornerstone of gender equality must be government-subsidized child care.

Without it, women cannot possibly enjoy the same opportunities as men in their careers. And we will continue to force women into false and discriminating dichotomies of career woman versus family woman. With affordable and well-run daycares, women and their partners are in a better position to make decisions about how much work outside the home (including working from home offices) each parent needs and wants to do.

Women ought to have an equal opportunity to enjoy autonomy by earning their own income, to commit to their full-time careers, and to feel good and not guilty about combining working with parenting.

To be fair, Kheiriddin is not suggesting that women don't work or that men ought to be sole full-time providers. She offers common-sense solutions to anything but daycare. She suggests two parents each working parttime in a job-share position, more flex workfrom-home options (which it took a COVID virus crisis to finally get), and parental leave for both parents.

While I fully support parents thinking seriously about their values and being able to live on one combined full-time salary, I am concerned about perpetuating a situation where women do not have a real choice, and would not be supported in going for full-time positions requiring leadership, dedication, and their unique talents, approach, and influence (something that job sharing precludes). We need women leaders in all job sectors.

I also agree with Kheiriddin on government-subsidized maternity and paternity leaves. The latter is sadly still quite rare and another manifestation of a perpetuation of gender stereotypical roles in North American society. Some countries stipulate that the latter four months of a one-year leave must be taken by the other parent (i.e., the father) or will not be subsidized. I agree.

Still, Kheiriddin encourages our government to “support parents and not centres.” I wish to support parents and children by improving the availability and quality of our daycare centres.

Not only does universal daycare create a more equal opportunity for both parents, it also benefits children by fostering social-mindedness. Several countries that Canada ought to compare itself to have figured this out. Kudos to the Liberal government for finally making universal daycare with well-trained, unionized caregivers a priority.

For example, every child born in Denmark is guaranteed a place in daycare from six months to six years, where the emphasis is on playing and socializing. Children learn the basic rules for functioning in a society, how to play freely, co-operate, sort out conflicts, and look out for each other. A sense of trust and social cohesion, so critical in successful, diverse societies, starts early.

Kheiriddin pretends to speak for children as she paints a distorted and grim view of what a well-run daycare looks like. She does not seem to have read the research showing that children in quality daycares do well, and often better than children who did not attend daycare or preschool on several indicators, including social maturity and academic ability.

In an attempt to counter Kheiriddin's fanciful projection of her views onto innocent children, I offer this imaginary child's voice: “Mommy and Daddy, I love you and our comfortable home, but I also love getting a break from you and your imperfect parenting and home rules. In daycare, I am exposed to children I may never meet in my home, and even though we are different, we enjoy doing creative and fun things together. We also value sitting around the communal lunch tables learning to take turns, to listen, to talk, and to laugh together.

“Thank you, Mommy and Daddy, for giving me the best introduction to what it means to be a co-operative, socially minded citizen in a mini-society. Thanks for giving me this preparation for being more at ease, less anxious and mistrusting, and better able to participate in the adult society one day.”