The Manitoba Child Care Association announces it has engaged Probe Research to conduct a survey in four key areas:
1. Parents with children currently enrolled in the 746 child care centres and licensed family child care homes that are MCCA members . The parent survey will be open to qualified respondents from September 15 – 30, 2016. Areas of inquiry include experiences with access, quality, affordability, board governance, preferences for service needs, and opinions about possible system changes. For example, we want to know how long parents spent waiting for a licensed child care space, what they did for care while waiting, and how big an impact child care has on their employment/educational opportunities. There is a question asking what parents look for when choosing a child care facility, and how confident they are about their ability to identify a high quality facility. Parents will also be asked if child care should be considered part of the education system and also available in all new housing developments. The responses to these questions and many others will provide valuable insight into the state of Manitoba;’s current child care system, and their ideas for improvements to better serve their needs.
2. MCCAs Professional, Child Care Assistant, and Family Child Care members will be surveyed October 4 – 14, 2016. Questions will cover education, experience, job satisfaction, wages & benefits, and attitudes regarding Manitoba’s current and future system. Some examples include how long worked in child care, compensation and benefits, participation in professional development, plans for the future, recruitment challenges, and possible changes such as whether there should be a standardized provincial wage scale for all employees or whether school divisions should be responsible for child care.
These are the first scientific and most detailed surveys ever conducted in Manitoba, with a focus on those who know child care best – the parents who use the service and those who provide it.
Additional surveys this fall will include a public opinion survey to identify opinions about accessibility and possible policy options for improvements to Manitoba’s child care system. A business leader survey will provide information about how child care access impacts on the workplace.
Results from these research areas will be made available later this year.
MCCAs Media Release Sept 12, 2016
Winnipeg Free Press reports on MCCAs child care research project
Categories: News
Posted by Jodie Kehl at 2:20 pm
