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Private sector can meet child care demands

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Fraser forum, March issue
Author: 
Taylor, Peter Shawn
Format: 
Article
Publication Date: 
1 Mar 2004
AVAILABILITY

Available in print for order (see SOURCE) and online for download.

Excerpts from article:

"[The author argues that] government policies can lead to an inefficient allocation of resources within the licenced child care sector. If the supply of regulated day care spaces is indeed a concern, advocates should be promoting a greater role for the private sector...

Domestic and international experience, as well as common sense, suggest that the private sector will always be more efficient at allocating scarce child care resources than the public sector. In Canada, provinces that allow commercial operators to participate in fee subsidy and grant programs spend less per regulated child care space than those provinces that discriminate against private operations. And when provided with a choice between for-profit and not-for profit centres, parents do not appear to share the aversion some governments display towards private sector child care. If the supply of child care is a problem and government funding a constraint, then the solution lies in encouraging greater private sector participation."


RELATED READINGS

- Child care by default or design?: An exploration of differences between non-profit and for-profit Canadian child care centres using the You Bet I Care! data sets
by Gillian Doherty, Martha Friendly & Barry Forer, Childcare Resource and Research Unit, 2002
Full paper in pdf.

- Differences between community owned and privately owned early childhood education and care centers: A review of evidence
by Linda Mitchell, New Zealand Council for Educational Research, 2002
Full paper in pdf.

- Daycare stocks cutting teeth
by Peter Shawn Taylor, Financial Post, December 9, 2002
News article available.

- Millions milked: Claims of mismanagement threaten the rapidly expanding child care industry
by James Kirby, Business Resources Whitepapers (BRW), Volume 25, No. 44, 13 November 2003
News article and full report available.

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