A Long History of Failure: Feeling the Effects of Canada’s Childcare Policy

This paper is intended to contribute to a historical understanding of the notion of the deserving poor, as seen in the development of childcare policy in Canada. Social policies that are primarily directed towards women demonstrate that the concept of deserving is fundamentally framed by the gendered devaluing of reproductive work within capitalism. Capitalist economies, by definition, give preference to private self-reliance over public responsibility, and this has historically reinforced particular norms and values and traditional gender roles. The history of childcare policy in Canada reflects the gendered nature of the capitalist labour market and how inequalities have prevailed despite attempts to reduce gender disparity through legislation.

This paper examines Canadian discourse on issues of childcare and social policy since the postwar period and demonstrates that neoliberal practices have created an increasing population of undeserving and ineligible poor. Looking at the origins of Canada’s social policy, the development of childcare policies in the post–World War II period, and subsequent transitional periods will help to develop insights into current childcare policies. The apparent link between neoliberalism, the deserving poor, and the gendered devaluing of reproductive work is demonstrated through policies that deliberately push for an emphasis on individualism and consumption as a source of identity and a vehicle for social participation, ¹ while de-emphasizing collective responsibility.

The first section will look at the notion of the deserving poor in the developing stages of institutionalized poor relief and then in the postwar period, when Keynesian ideology was influential in Western economies. Ideas of deserving in a welfare state and the concept of childcare as a social service will be explored through the policies that developed in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s. The next section will look at the important transitions that took place in the 1970s and 1980s, when supporters of a national childcare initiative developed a voice yet various ideological shifts stifled feminist agendas. ² The final section will describe the changes that took place in Ontario when the Progressive Conservative Party took power in the 1990s.

Focusing this analysis on Ontario’s social policy reform from 1995 to 2003 will demonstrate the significance of neoliberal ideology in shaping the notion of deserving and the role that the Harris era has played in current childcare subsidy policy. A comparison to the Quebec system will be made to consider the benefits the low-fee childcare policy, which has been implemented and enlarged over the years in Quebec. While the Canadian government takes pride in being committed to gender equality and the advancement of women’s rights, ³ women are continually disadvantaged in the productive economy and devalued in the reproductive economy, demonstrating that gendered inequality persists in Canada’s capitalist economy.

The term childcare is commonly used to refer to any type of arrangement involving the care of children under age 12 by someone other than the primary, unpaid caregiver. For the purpose of this paper, childcare refers to childcare centers and school-age childcare programs that are regulated by the federal or provincial government; unregulated, informal childcare will be referred to as alternative care, and the reproductive work of parents or legal guardians will be referred to as primary care. Reproductive labour can be understood as the physical reproduction of society as well as other care work involving feeding, clothing, teaching, and caring for children. Productive labour refers to any paid work that is recognized as employment under the Canada Labour Code (1985). While the productive market necessarily relies on the reproductive work performed in households, this paper will explore how Canada, as a capitalist society, prioritizes productive economic activity, while continually rejecting the value of reproductive work.

Early History and Social Welfare

The Elizabethan Poor Law (1601) first introduced the concept of deserving poor in the context of social policy and the administration of relief. The poor laws in England called for a differentiation between categories of poor, a concept that was mirrored in the development of systems of poor relief in Canada. ⁴ Amendments to the Poor Law in 1662 established the Law of Settlement, ⁵ which...