Charest: Quebec is “paradise for families”
Quebec premier Jean Charest recently claimed that Quebec is a “family paradise”. He said this while visiting a daycare centre. What’s wrong with this picture?
“Quebec is recognized as a leader in the world regarding support to families. Our government works so that Quebec remains a paradise for families. We ensure that all parents and children in Quebec can flourish. This is an investment in our collective future,” said the Premier.
Quebecers of child-bearing age apparently think otherwise. The province has one of the world’s lowest fertility rates—only 1.5 per woman, compared to the replacement level of 2.1. Quebec’s abortion rate is over 25 percent higher than the Canadian average.
Quebec’s daycare program, thanks to massive public subsidies, has given the province Canada’s highest female labour force participation rate, but the empirical evidence shows that this is far from paradisiacal for families. In fact, daycare is bad for children and bad for parents.
If Mr Charest really wants to make Quebec a “paradise” where families “flourish”, he should cut subsidised daycare and discourage parents from paying strangers to care for their kids.
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