Canada Getting Extremely Low Mandated $10 Daycare Rates

This will make people in the United States pretty jealous. Our friends in Canada have almost the entire country participating in their program for $10-a-day daycare centers. It is an effort that is put on by the Canadian Government to expand child care spaces and cut down on the cost that it will cost parents to put their kids in daycare.

So far, there are 3 territories that the government is trying to close the deal with--Ontario, Alberta and New Brunswick.

It is a concern for every new parent, or parent with toddlers, in New York. Right here in the Western New York area, child care can be a MAJOR expense. We just had our first kid and trying to put him in daycare raises 2 challenges:

The first, a lot of daycares are not even accepting new kids at their facilities. There is such a lack of workers right now, that most facitilies will not even take kids right away, so you need to be put on a list.

Secondly, and unrelated, the cost of child care in the Western New York area is absolutely outrageous. I am not saying that it shouldn't be that much, but I certainly understand other parents now not going to work anymore. It simply just doesn't make sense. Some parents don't make enough money to justify taking their kids to a day care.

We asked some parents in the area how much they are paying for daycare in the area and most said they are averaging just below $400 a week. FOUR HUNDRED BUCKS A WEEK! Now, think about if you have another kid. Seems like maybe here in New York we could start thinking about adopting a program like Canada, because parents shouldn't have to worry about spending that kid of money to have someone watch their kids to go to work.

How much is daycare costing you? Would you ever stay home with your kids instead of going to work?