Female Entrepreneuers and Childcare

There's a very real lack of childcare for children under two and a half years of age which poses a real problem for those of us who being entrepreneuers that become parents; need to go back to work early; are new immigrants-parents or just become new female entrepreneurs.

I have child care but only after a long wait,-the divine intervention of God and a social worker- and that both my partner at the time and I were not "working",he was laid off and I just have gave birth to a baby. Nevertheless I had to register in some courses or classes to 'qualified' which I did.

Being an entrepreneuer and parenting young kids either for our personal financial needs or for the financial health of our businesses is not that easy or cheap. The cost of childcare is such that for many families it becomes a zero sum equation for one parent to work and childcare to be paid for. Right now in Ontario, the average cost of licenced child care is approximately $750 per month and care for infants is generally the most expensive.

What childcare options I'm talking about? Nurseries, Childminders,Nannies, Babysitters, Au Pairs, Mother's Help.

With no parental leave as an option for the self-employed, I admit before leaving the corporate world in USA I often meditated on the absence of a paid maternity leave as a big drawback for any entrepreneur planning a family specially in a new country. Certainly either in USA, Canada or anywhere else a paid year off is helpful. The real things is that affordable, available, reliable childcare remains, in most provinces and certainly here in ON, Canada, it's expensive, frankly a bit elusive. The fact or nightmare that my kids could be on wait list for care and might take two years from now it's just scary.( last notice from their office as I'm not register in a 'class' and self employment I guess it's not enough?, neither is new civil status? oh my!

These are issues which all parents – not just the self-employed – Ontario-, but the entrepreneur in general has a specific dilemma in that it is quite difficult, if not impossible, to have someone step in and cover your position while you're off caring for an infant. Yes, help can be brought in for the company overall, and in my case I'm not very lucky to have a business partner to share the role of running the business with, and ultimately my business couldn't afford for me to be off for too long – whether that absence is paid or not.

So access to affordable and reliable childcare would ease the way for entrepreneurial parents to mind the health of both their businesses and their families. And, while this is an issue which impacts both male and female entrepreneurs, its impact is arguably felt by women the most. With women-run businesses being one of the largest growing segments of the economy – one million women are projected to own a business in Canada by the end of this year – this is an issue which really needs to be addressed, for the health of our economy, women and children.

We need our government to fund more fulltime childcare programs, more skills development for ECE, and better salaries for the special people who care for our children. They are the future of this nation, and they should be a priority, just as their parents are the "present" of this nation.