Excerpts from the brief:
Building and sustaining a broadly prosperous Canada requires collaboration between and commitment from individuals, groups, communities, businesses and governments at all levels. In our work at HELP, we particularly recognize and focus on the inextricable link between our collective commitment to children, families and communities today and our collective prosperity in the future.
Our research corroborates other findings that highlight Canada's weak public policy and investments in children and families, relative to other developed countries. One example of Canada's lagging international status is evident from HELP's research on the child benefit package, which estimates the monthly value of public policies and funds that help (some) parents with the costs of raising children. A 2004 international comparison of this measure ranks Canada 14th out of 16 developed countries. The average value of our child benefit package was slightly lower than the US, and less than half the value available to families in the UK.
While there are a range of increased community services and public supports that could and should be available for children and families across Canada, there is one public investment in family support that, done well, simultaneously addresses all four of the questions posed by the Committee. Quality early learning and child care services promote a healthy and skilled citizenry, strengthen competitive businesses, enhance community infrastructure, and provide a positive and prompt return on &em; and justification for &em; public investment.