Premier Christy Clark’s “family first” agenda appears to be gaining traction, according to a new poll that found 60% of Canadians want governments to support policy changes that make it easier to raise a family.
McAllister Opinion Research also found that 85% of Canadians want to spend more time with their families.
The poll revealed 62% of Canadians think it is a good idea to invest in benefits for new moms and dads so that everyone, including self-employed people, could spend 18 months at home with newborns.
Two-thirds of those surveyed believe that it’s a good idea to subsidize child care at a rate of $10 per day.
“It is far more common that today both parents need to work in order to eke out a standard of living that is often lower than [what] one salary could achieve a generation ago,” said University of British Columbia professor Paul Kershaw.
His research found that combined federal, provincial and municipal revenue is down more than $90 billion as a share of the economy today compared with 1980, while over the same time period, health-care spending is up $47 billion.
“When we choose to cut the total revenue pie by $90 billion, but increase the slice for medical care by $47 billion, we leave $137 billion less for other priorities,” he said. “The generation raising young kids is definitely feeling this pinch.”
Glen Korstrom
@GlenKorstrom