A new report by Oxfam Canada, Who cares? Why Canada needs a public child care system, finds that Canada’s ability to close the economic gender gap and simultaneously expand the economy depends on ensuring equal access to affordable child care.
The study references research that shows if the federal government reduced child care parent fees by 40 per cent (which would cost the government $8 billion), it could bring 150,000 mothers with high education levels into the paid workforce. That shift would result in a 2% increase in GDP, or $8 billion to pay for other programs.
