Success Stories
Nova Scotia
If there was ever a case where the availability of daycare is making the difference between tough circumstances and a better life, it's this one. Laura (not her real name) and her young daughter had left a very troubled marriage and had moved back home.
"Between living at home and working, the $300 I paid each month for child care was manageable," she said. "But then I got a new job outside Halifax and my child care cost went up to $400 each month."
Laura had completed a paralegal course and had sent out over 100 cover letters to prospective employers in a tough job market. She got some letters back and a few calls and landed a job in a legal firm. But she was forced to move.
Her new job further away meant that she had to move out on her own and her child care costs were now unaffordable. Her salary was barely covering shelter and other basic costs. "I called everybody about a daycare subsidy. I knew there had to be something. I didn't want to waste my training and lose my job because I couldn't afford the cost of daycare."
Finally, last summer, Laura got a portable subsidized child care space under Nova Scotia's Healthy Child Development Initiative - an NCB reinvestment program.
"A program person came out to my office which I really appreciated and arranged the subsidy," said Laura. "I got one of four available seats and my daycare costs went down to $25 each week. It's a really good daycare," she added, "with no stigma or prejudice about the parents' financial situation. I could now afford swimming lessons for my daughter which were also taken care of by the daycare."
"The subsidy moving with the child has made a big difference for many families," said Virginia O'Connell, provincial Director of Early Childhood Development. "Parents feel they can move to take courses or a job because the child care subsidy moves with them. It also means money they once spent on child care can go toward swimming lessons or other activities for the children.
"Laura is now aiming at a law career. "With five years as a paralegal, I qualify as a mature student and don't require a degree to apply to law school," she said. "The subsidized portable child care seat was a big help toward the future of my daughter and myself."
Learn about Nova Scotia's NCB programs