National report card argues for new deal for families: Kershaw study
Canadian parents today are raising families with less money and time than the Baby Boomer generation even though the country’s economy has doubled in size since 1976, says a new study that Paul Kershaw and his colleagues at the University of British Columbia are releasing in partnership with kidSKAN (see here for a brief summary).
Household incomes for those approaching retirement have increased more in Saskatchewan since 1976 than any other province. While it is easier to retire, Saskatchewan reports the worst service squeeze for the generation raising young kids in the country. There are enough regulated child care and kindergarten spaces for just 21 per cent of children under age six.
“What we’re seeing is something I call ‘Generation Squeeze,’” says Kershaw, an associate professor at HELP and lead author of the study. “The generation raising young kids today is squeezed for time at home, squeezed for income because of the high cost of housing, and squeezed for services like child care that would help them balance earning a living with raising a family.”
Kershaw has come to Saskatchewan a number of times in the last few years to talk about smart family policy, and moving from “a bad deal to a new deal for families.” In November 2010, kidSKAN hosted a dinner with Kershaw and created videos of his talk and shorter ones of key messages, which can be seen here.
Kershaw’s research has been supported by the Healthy Children research team at the Saskatchewan Population Health and Evaluation Research Unit (SPHERU), an interdisciplinary team of population health researchers from the Universities of Saskatchewan and Regina, through kidSKAN. The Saskatchewan Population Health and Evaluation Research Unit (University of Saskatchewan) and the Human Early Learning Partnership (University of British Columbia) launched the report card based on the study, entitled “Does Canada Work for All Generations?” in Saskatoon on October 18, 2011.
Kershaw and colleague Lynell Anderson found that the average household income for young Canadian couples has flat-lined since the mid-1970s (after adjusting for inflation) even though the share of young women contributing to household incomes today is up 53 per cent. While household incomes have stalled, Generation Squeeze is simultaneously struggling with the costs of living because housing prices increased 76 per cent across the country.
According to Kershaw and Anderson, the time, income and service squeeze doesn’t just hurt young families. The Canadian business community pays more than $4 billion annually because work-life conflict among parents of pre-school children results in higher absenteeism, employee health insurance premiums and recruitment expenses. The squeeze also contributes to rising costs of crime, poverty, education and health care. The study shows Canada is among the worst industrialized countries when it comes to adapting to the declining standard of living for young families.
Kershaw has proposed policy changes, called the New Deal for Families, that include enabling mothers and fathers to stay at home with newborns until they reach at least 18 months of age, providing child care services that cost no more than $10 per day, and allowing employees and employers to use flex-time to better balance time spent at work with time spent at home.
Six provincial and territorial elections were held this October. Kershaw points out that “not one campaign engaged adequately with how Canada has become a country in which it is far harder to raise a young family.”
“Canadians in Saskatchewan led the development of our country’s greatest social policy achievement – medical care. We now need citizens to show similar policy leadership if we are to ensure Canada once again works for all generations,” says Kershaw.
For more information about Kershaw and his research about a Canada that Works for All Generations, visit: http://blogs.ubc.ca/newdealforfamilies
