Therefore, a woman could attend class for 9 hours per week and receive credit for 18 hours of study time. With this amount of time she would be eligible for a day care subsidy.

This change in the method for calculating eligibility came about because the administrator holds a certain amount of discretionary power to interpret policy statements in a broad and flexible manner. As with the Canada Assistance Plan, this involves an indirect transfer of services rather than a direct transfer of cash.

The outcome of this policy is:

• low-income mothers are able to attend educational programs part-time without loss of family benefits such as living allowances, medical and dental coverage, etc. These women can use this educational time to acquire or upgrade academic or occupational skills. It is particularly valuable for those women whose educational attainment level falls well below the minimum required for entry into Manpower programs, since Manpower is not able to fund preliminary upgrading or basic literacy programs.

Educational institutions and day care policy

Policy related to day care services at educational institutions is noteworthy by its absence. In a study on day care services for the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC), it was evident that direct intervention in the daily program of children's services is not considered a viable role for the academic community. The report suggests that there are two central unresolved issues:¹

1. there is a lack of short and long-range planning activity by universities around day care services; and

2. there is a general absence of any policy guidelines regarding the setting-up, operation, funding and control of such services

The report found that the most common characteristics of child care services at
universities were: ²

• that financial responsibility for operating expenses rests with parents and provincial subsidy systems. The average fee paid in 1974 was $150 per month for children under 2 years and $125 per month for children between 2 and 5 years. This is slightly higher than fees reported in Table 9. University constituent groups tend to provide funds to support only specific aspects of initial and ongoing costs. Any increases in operating costs must be borne by the users.

^1. E. M. McLeod, A study of child care services at Canadian universities (Ottawa: Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada, 1975), p. 41.

^2. Ibid. Chapters 4, 5, and 6.