Families deserve freedom and flexibility

Full text

The BC Greens plan for families includes:

Support for stay-at-home parents

• Up to $500 per month for families with children under 3 and a stay at home parent

Early childhood education and care

Create a comprehensive program for early childhood education and care. We would increase funding for child care programs from $674 million in 2020/21 to $897 million in 2024/25. Funding would cover the phase-in of the various elements of this plan for a comprehensive program that would include: 

• Professional development opportunities to increase qualifications of existing child care workers, and the training of more early childhood educators in certified programs;

• The expansion of available physical spaces, prioritizing partnerships with public schools, community non-profits, and First Nations;

• Establish professional wages for early childhood educators;

• Up to 25 hours’ free ECE per week for 3 and 4 year olds;

• Free childcare for working parents with children under 3;

• Maintaining child care subsidies and and supports as needed to ensure adequate financial support for all families.

• Moving the Ministry of State for Childcare into the Ministry of Education. 

Supporting flexible work arrangements

We would take the first steps towards policies that ensure that families have a viable choice between going back to full-time work, staying at home or balancing both, including:

• In consultation with business, labour and other stakeholders, explore options for reduced work weeks and or flexible work hours. For example, encouraging employers to adopt a 4-day work week, or reduced hours for a standard work week while maintaining full-time status to maintain benefits, or modified work week arrangements. 

• Supporting telecommuting to save commuting time

  • Helping employers to continue to support telecommuting where feasible.

  • Enhancing investments to deliver high-speed internet access across BC