The Choice in Child Care Allowance: What you See Is Not What You Get

The Conservatives’ plan for a “Choice in Child Care Allowance” is seriously flawed.  Because the new program will trigger reductions in federal and provincial/territorial income-tested benefits and increases in income taxes, most families will end up with less – for modest-income families in the $30,000-$40,000 range, much less – than the gross $1,200 annual payment for every child under 6.  The Child Care Allowance also will favour one-earner couples over single parents and two-earner families.  The proposed scheme is really a child benefit, not a child care program.  Caledon contends that it would be better to invest in further increases to the existing Canada Child Tax Benefit, a modern and effective social program that suffers from none of the failings of the proposed Choice in Child Care Allowance.

ISBN – 1-55382-162-9