Quebecs early childhood and family policy

Québec’s early childhood and family policy Kerry McCuaig Fellow Early Childhood Policy Atkinson Centre, OISE University of Toronto, Canada

QuĂŠbec Premier Pauline Marios

Rest of Canada

QuĂŠbec

Historical context • Québec was a disadvantaged region, “ran by the church & the mob” • The minority Anglophone population dominated, particularly the economy • Decline in use and proficiency in French • 1975 a new party, the Parti Quebecois, elected dedicated to an independent Québec • Precipitated a capital strike • 1980, 1995 narrowly lost sovereignty referenda

Poor social indicators • Québec’s academic scores were below the national average • High school drop-out rate, particularly among French-speaking youth • Lower post secondary enrolment • Lowest rate of women in the labour force • Declining birth rate – below the national average • High rates of poverty and underemployment

Québec’s activist social agenda since the mid-1990s • • • •

The Prescription Drug Insurance Plan (1997) The $7-a-day Early Childhood Centres (1997) Universal school-age programs The 2002 Act to Combat Poverty and Social Exclusion states the broad objectives of policy • The Child Assistance measure (2005) • The Work Premium (2005) • The Québec Parental Insurance Plan (2006) • Controlled post-secondary tuitions

Total provincial and local government expenditure as % of regional GDP in five Canadian regions, 2007 % 32

28

24

QC

AT Nat’l average ON

BC

20

PR 16 Source: Statistics Canada (CANSIM 384-0004).

Québec’s 3-part family policy • Enhanced parental leave – 1 year at 75% of salary • Early education Centres for Little Children >4 years old • School-provide before-and after-school programs to age 12 • Significant child allowance

Preschool programs • Attended by children 0-4 years-old • Parent fees capped at $7/day • Enhanced pre- and in-service training for the EC workforce • Union negotiated pay scale, benefits and pension plan – on par with average incomes • Play-based curriculum

Growth in EC spaces for children years, 1997-2012

0-4

ECEC Across Canada

Percentage of 2 – 4-year-olds regularly attending an ECE centre by provinces and Canada

Canada: 52%

QC 69%

MB 43%

AB 31%

BC 41% SK 34%

ON 56%

NL 31%

PE 41%

NB 36%

NS 38% (McCain, Mustard & McCuaig, 2011)

ECEC Across Canada

ECE budget as a percentage of provincial/territorial budgets 2011-12

YK 1.15% NT 0.88%

BC 1.30%

NU 0.59%

MB 1.59%

AB 1.13%

SK 1.36%

(McCain, Mustard & McCuaig, 2011)

ON 2.01%

QC 4.67%

NL 0.86%

PE 1.71%

NB 1.28% NS 1.39%

What has low cost early education and care done for Québec?

• 70,000 more mothers are working • They pay $1.5-billion annually in taxes

• And draw $340-million less in social transfers • Boosting the GDP by $5-billion Source: Fortin, P., Godbout, L., & St-Cerny. (2012).

Québec mothers have: • Moved Québec from the bottom to the top in female labour force participation in Canada • Halved child poverty rates • Halved social assistance rates for lone parents • Boosted fertility • Meanwhile, Québec women now top university enrolment and Québec student test scores have moved from below to above the national average

Done right early education and care pays for itself For ever dollar QuĂŠbec spends on ECE, it collects $1.05 in increased taxes and reduced family payments, while the federal government gets $0.44 Source: Fortin, P., Godbout, L., & St-Cerny. (2012).

Women’s employment soars Employment rate of women aged 25 to 44 in Quebec and in all other provinces from 1985 to 2009 % 80 76

All other provinces

72

Quebec 68

64

60

56 86

88

90

92

94

96

98

00

02

Source: Statistics Canada.

04

06

08

Quebec’s fertility rate exceeds the national average Number of births per 1,000 women aged 18 to 44 in Quebec and in all other provinces from 1985 to 2008 %

72

68

64

All other provinces

60

56

52

Quebec 48 84

86

88

90

92

94

96

98

00

Source: Statistics Canada.

02

04

06

08

Median purchasing power of families is greater in Quebec Median disposable income ($) of families with children, adjusted for the cost of living, 2008 Family type Quebec Ontario Ratio(%) Two-parent 76,500 76,900 99 Lone-parent 44,000 35,100 125 (female-headed) Source: Statistics Canada (CANSIM 202-605 and 326-0015).

Universality is more equitable

Math scores for 15 year olds 2011 550 540 530

QC C A

520 510 500

OECD Averag e

490 480

USA

470

Source: OECD.

% children > 17 living in poverty by region AT

15 %

14

B C

13 12

Nat’l average ON

11 10

QC

9 8

PR Source: Statistics Canada (CANSIM 202-0802).

But there are challenges!!

Growth versus Quality • Heavy reliance on in-home child care where staff less qualified and quality lower • Expansion of for-profit centres where quality is lower • Poor infrastructure – leading to poor planning, inequities and graft

Quality and duration matter (months of developmental age) Developmental advantage (months)

8 7

low-quality

6

average

5

high-quality

4 3 2 1 0

1-2 years

2-3 years

ECE program attendance

Quality linked to better outcomes

Preschool quality and self-regulation and pro-social behaviour (age 11) 0.30

Effect size

0.25

Preschool quality low

0.20 0.15

medium

0.10

high

0.05 0.00

Self-regulation

Pro-social behaviour

Early Childhood Education Index BC

Governance

AB

Funding

SK

Access

MB ON

Learning Environment

QC

Accountability

NB NS PE NL 0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

Progress and challenges Québec has made considerable progress: •Raised its average education level •Raised its employment rate •Raised its standard of living and reduced poverty But many challenges remain: •Productivity is lagging •The school drop-out rate is still too high •The large public sector is not easy to manage •The quality of child care needs improvment •Population aging will entail a fiscal squeeze

Bottom line "The Amazon is cool but the St. Lawrence is such a magnificent river!"

Alexis de Tocqueville (paraphrased) August 1831

www.pointsurlapetiteenfance.org

www.earlyyearsstudy.ca