TABLE 8.

Suggested methods for improving child care arrangements in Canada (1973)

Percentage of mothers making suggestion
   
All working Mothers with Mothers with
mothers pre-school school-age
Suggested improvement
children
 children
       
Changes in work patterns
  Flexible work hours 25% 11% 34%
  More part-time work 19 13 11
  Total changes in work patterns
44
24
57
       
Changes in child care services
  More day care centres 15 24 9
  Approved register of sitters 14 20 10
  Cheaper day care centres 11 20 5
   Better location of centres 6 9 4
  Total changes in day care services
46
73
28
Other suggestions 10 3 15
       
Total all suggestions 100% 100% 100%


Source:

Statistics Canada, Manpower Research and Development Section, "Preliminary report on working mothers and their child-care arrangements in 1973", Table 10, (Ottawa: Information Canada, 1975)

Comment:

Table 8 indicates that the mothers of pre-school children tend to think in terms of improvements to the day care services, while mothers of school-age children think more in terms of improvements to work patterns.

Some interesting corollaries to these data are:

- more flexible working hours would demand more flexible day care hours. It is not possible, for example, for a mother to start work at 7:30 a.m. if the day care service does not open until 7:30 a.m. and she must travel at least one hour to get to her place of employment.

- more part-time work would demand more part-time day care services.

- demands might increase for evening or night time child care services.

- reduction in the costs of day care centres (i.e. reduced income to the care-giver) is likely to be accompanied by a reduction in the quality of the service, most often by an increase in the staff: child ratio.

At some point in the development of day care services, those who employ women and those who provide care for the children must coordinate their arrangements.


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