Pay Equity Coalition Happy With Child-Care Agreement

The New Brunswick Coalition for Pay Equity is welcoming this week’s child-care agreement between the province and Ottawa.

The $544-million agreement will see child care fees cut in half by this time next year and to an average of $10 a day by 2026.

Johanne Perron, executive director of the coalition, said it is a transformative agreement for women, parents and children.

“We have advocated for accessible, affordable and inclusive child care for decades, so that’s a really important agreement,” Perron said in an interview Tuesday.

Under the agreement, announced Monday, early childhood educators will also see their wages increase by 25 per cent over the next five years to $23.47.

Perron said this is positive news, but she would like to see the provincial government go one step further.

“We’re still calling on the government to conduct a full job evaluation to make sure that they reach pay equity levels, so that would be equal pay for work of equal value if you compare with jobs that are mostly done by men,” she said.

The agreement will also see the creation of 5,700 new child-care spaces across the province over the next five years.

Perron said she hopes most of those new seats are in the non-profit sector, pointing to studies that show the quality of care is often higher.

“That’s basically because money is reinvested into services themselves and we know that the quality of the care is dependent on the quality of the jobs, so often money is reinvested in the child-care educator’s wages, working conditions, and that leads to lower turnovers, more stability for children,” she said.

The coalition is asking the government to consult with all stakeholders, not just employers, as it implements the child-care agreement.