Decades of underspending have left care sectors – including child care – in a state of disorder, with caregivers overwhelmed and ever more people in need of quality care. Repeated lockdowns had a profound impact on families’ heavy unpaid household care responsibilities, which disproportionately fell on women. Even before the pandemic, 42 per cent of women of working age globally said they were unable to do paid work because of their unpaid care and domestic work responsibilities – compared to just six per cent of men.

Investing in affordable, accessible and inclusive child care is paramount to ensuring a just pandemic recovery.

In 2021, following years of advocacy by the child care movement, the Federal Government committed to building a pan-Canadian early learning and child care (ELCC) system and invested $30 billion. All provinces and territories now have agreements in place that allow the transfer of funds and set out guidelines for the reduction of child care fees with a target of $10 perday.

Large gaps in data analyzing the particular challenges faced by racialized women in accessing child care both before and during COVID, combined with the complexity of considering how a policy affects everyone differently, leaves a high probability of the most marginalized women slipping through the cracks of this new child care system.

Since provinces are now putting together their plans for improving accessibility and affordability while working towards building a child care system, it is critical to bring the voices of underrepresented women and gender-diverse people to the forefront of policy discussions.

The Inclusive Childcare for All project will support increased engagement in policy conversations from diverse communities and support the childcare movement to grow as a diverse and feminist network.