| |
Economics of Early Childhood Development and Care: The "path to prosperity" that matters to business
Printer-friendly format
Charlie Coffey
Executive Vice President
Government & Community Affairs
RBC Financial Group
"Path to Prosperity" Luncheon
World Trade and Convention Centre
Halifax, Nova Scotia
Tuesday, June 22, 2004
Her Honour, The Honourable Myra A. Freeman, His Honour, Lawrence
A. Freeman, The Honourable David Morse, The Honourable Carolyn
Bolivar-Getson, ladies and gentlemen:
Elaine, thanks very much for the marvelous introduction.
Over the years, I've read several of your insightful papers,
including Child Care: Becoming Visible…and Reflecting
on Attracting/Keeping Qualified Staff in Child Care. I also
discovered one of your workshop pieces, which remains fixed
in my memory - I'm referring to the CCC-NS Workshop, Earning
Respect in Child Care that still stands the test of time.
Here's an excerpt from the accompanying article:
"Our meeting room at Child Care Connection-NS is adjacent
to the street. There are a number of child care centres in
our neighbourhood, so whenever we hear children we jump up
and look out the window. On one particular occasion we saw
two teachers with nine children. What questions would you
ask about the scene? On the other side of the street was a
woman looking at them. We wanted to run outside and ask the
woman, what she was thinking. We didn't know if she had any
early childhood background and chances are, her questions
or thoughts would be very different from ours. Would they
be positive? What do people outside of the child care community
think of us? How do we ensure that we get more respect?"
These are powerful words and questions all right…and
in the next few minutes, I want to share more powerful words
and messages with you about the economics of early child development
and care - the path to prosperity that matters to business.
As Elaine says in the workshop, "by getting in control
of our messages and pausing, we'll improve the perception
of the work we do." So watch out for carefully placed
pauses - during my remarks, as the goal is to ensure message
received.
Let me begin by saying, it's an absolute pleasure to be back
in Halifax - the gateway to Atlantic Canada - especially during
Child Care Awareness Days, as this month is meant to acknowledge
the vital contribution child care workers make to Nova Scotia's
economic and social well-being. I enjoyed the reception for
the Coady International Institute last night, hosted by the
Honourable Myra Freeman. Not only do I have a better idea
about why the Institute is world-renowned as a centre of excellence
in community-based development, I learned a great deal about
your Lieutenant-Governor's distinguished record of community
service in Nova Scotia. Lieutenant-Governor Freeman, many
guests commented about your energizing interest in children
and youth…and of course you and His Honour Larry Freeman
are here today, which speaks volumes. Thank you.
As you may be aware, one of Canada's communications pioneers,
the late Marshall McLuhan, often shared his thoughts about
children. You may recall his remark about changing infant
diapers that goes like this: "Diaper backwards spells
repaid. Think about it." Many interpretations have followed
over the years - I prefer the one that suggests there are
short/long-term "benefits" for taking care of children
early on.
As I glance around this room, I can't help but appreciate
the power of the collective voice plus the value of raising
the volume and the bar when it comes to investing in early
child development (ECD) and care. Each and every one of you
is part of the collective voice. And it's the same collective
voice that will help ensure more business people are in the
room at the next luncheon or event in Halifax and communities
across the province where the focus is on investing in children.
There's no doubt the time is now to convince corporate Canada
to take a more active interest and leadership role in supporting
early child development and care. The key to convincing business
revolves around building and selling a compelling case - demonstrating
that investing in our children is good economics - good business.
The obvious place to start is with my involvement. I'm involved
in supporting early child development and care because it's
an economic investment that requires more federal, provincial
and municipal government action. RBC can help influence public
policy and public opinion. After all, the development of human
capital at an early age is key to a prosperous economy.
I'm involved because it's an economic investment that needs
corporate/business action. As a business leader, I have a
responsibility to push the envelope on high priority issues
- and what's more important than children? I'm also involved
because it's an economic investment that requires more community
action - kids are everybody's business. Integrated early years
programming is one of the best investments communities can
make. As a children's advocate (and parent), the only way
to make a difference is to get involved and get others involved!
That's why I accepted the role as Chair of the newly founded
Council on Early Child Development and Parenting in Ontario.
The Council is a community-based network organization committed
to the advancement of human development through enhancement
of early child development. It's designed to help communities
establish, in association with primary schools, early child
development and parenting centres. This initiative will involve
school boards, public health, municipal government and community
groups.
The bottom line is that business leaders need to step up
to the plate. They need to hear and talk about research findings
to get the message about what's at stake: current and future
customers, employees and stakeholders, a healthier workplace
(work/life initiatives), increased productivity, more attractive
returns and corporate responsibility. The contribution of
early child development and care to the creation and nurturing
of human capital cannot be ignored. Here's some research at
work that shows why investing in children is good economics
and good business:
- "For every $1 spent on child care there is a $2
economic benefit. The benefit comes back through increased
tax revenues, and decreased social, education and health
costs."
- "A child's brain development in the first six years
of life sets the foundation for lifelong learning, behaviour
and health."
- "If the first few years of life include support for
growth in cognition, language, motor skills, adaptive skills
and social-emotional functioning, the child is more likely
to succeed in school and later contribute to society."
- High-quality early childhood education produces "long-term
positive outcomes and cost-savings that include improved
school performance, reduced special education placement,
lower school dropout rates, and increased lifelong earning
potential. Employers increasingly find that the availability
of good early childhood programs is critical to the recruitment
and retention of parent employees."
- "It's estimated that work-life conflicts cost Canadian
organizations roughly $2.7 billion in lost time due to work
absences (this figure does not include indirect costs such
as replacement of the employee during the absence, overtime
costs or reduced service or productivity.)"
Last fall, a US-based conference "The Economics of Early
Childhood Development: Lessons for Economic Policy",
provided a unique opportunity for economists, public policy
analysts, professionals and educators to share research on
early childhood development. James Lyon, first vice president
at the Minneapolis Federal Reserve, conveyed a very clear
message in his opening remarks: "One of the charges of
the district Fed banks is to provide analysis and insight
into regional economic development. State/local governments
have been debating how to best use public funds to encourage
economic growth, and research has shown that early childhood
development programs should be viewed as economic development."
This matters to business.
In the May 2004 edition of the magazine Today's Parent, there's
a child care report card by John Hoffman, that begins with
the question: How good is daycare in your province? (Elaine
Ferguson will be most familiar with this report since she
was Hoffman's "expert source" from Nova Scotia.)
Not surprisingly, Quebec won big time, mainly because of its
higher spending on child care and higher number of child care
spaces. I'm sure most of this audience knows that Quebec launched
an early childhood education policy in 1997/98 that resulted
in "a 56% increase in child care spaces by 2001, higher
training standards for staff and the $5-a-day fee" (recently
increased to $7-a-day)." This matters to business.
And how does Hoffman's article say Canada stacks up with
other countries? "The Organization for Economic Cooperation
and Development (OECD) sent a team of international researchers
here to assess Canadian child-care programs in the fall of
2003…part of an ongoing effort to review early childhood
education and child care policies/services in industrialized
nations. While the report is still under wraps, based on the
OECD's research on what makes good child care, Canada is not
likely to stack up well. Canada is considered well behind
many European countries in national investment in child care
as well as quality." This also matters to business.
More research and references, including the report, "Never
too early to invest in children: Early childhood education
and care matters to business!" can be found on the Voices
for Children web site that some of you may be acquainted with
- www.voicesforchildren.ca. You may also want to check out
the March 2004 edition of Policy Options magazine, as it presents
four articles that explore child care and early child development.
And speaking of child care, on May 20th the Child Care Coalition
of Manitoba launched its report, Time for Action: An Economic
and Social Analysis of Child Care in Winnipeg, that's an excellent
read. It gets the economics! I'm very pleased that Glenn Crook,
RBC's Sales and Market Manager in Winnipeg, continues to serve
on the Advisory Council for this very significant project.
Facts, figures, and return on investment are the kind of
language that business understands. And the message is clear:
we all bear a burden for failing to provide the "right
start" to our children. We bear it as parents, taxpayers
and businesspeople. We need more business leaders to view
early childhood programs and child care as an economic issue,
not just an education or social issue. It's an important economic
issue because early child development and care enables parents
to work, learn and train while helping to prepare children
for a brighter future. We must make this wise investment today
to ensure a competitive workforce and economy tomorrow…and
beyond.
We know that early child development and care has earned
its place on the political landscape - as part of current
leadership campaign platforms and government agendas. The
time is now to push the envelope on an agenda that must move
forward to the next level, which means making ECD and child
care a national/universal priority, while targeting the children
most in need…and which means putting more money directly
into high quality child care. This investment should be a
coordinated effort to ensure program quality and to serve
more children/families, including aboriginal children. The
fact that your own Minister of Community Services, David Morse
and Minister of Human Resources, Carolyn Bolivar-Getson are
here, tells me that Premier John Hamm and his team consider
early learning and child care a leadership in action priority.
Business has a key role to play in helping to nudge government
action on early child development and care issues - in helping
to influence public policy. Business also needs to support
governments in developing national/regional early child development
and care programs to replace the existing "patchwork"
of projects and initiatives.
Prosperity depends on well-developed minds - intelligence,
imagination, ingenuity and innovation. Since the underlying
goal of corporate responsibility is prosperity for Canada,
the private sector should increase its support of children,
learning and education. Advocating sound policy and creating
innovative strategies for ECD and care contributes to Canada's
path to prosperity.
Let's talk about bold, innovative strategies and action plans,
as business should strive to be family/child-friendly employers…when
it comes to children, there are unlimited possibilities:
- workplaces that employ on-site/near-site child care centers;
- child care subsidies;
- after-school programs;
- parental networks, information and referral services;
- investing in/sponsoring targeted children's initiatives;
- workplaces that broaden their scope re job sharing, flexible
hours, extended parental leave, and family care leaves;
- workplaces that encourage representation on children's
advocacy boards.
These are all elements of a sound business strategy, and
they will aid in developing human capital, promoting a healthier
workplace and sustaining a competitive advantage.
Let's talk about business, government and community partnerships…there's
a whole host of unlimited opportunities for business investment
in early child development and care - in employees and families.
We must continue to listen to the voice of our employee partners
(primarily through work/life initiatives) in order to help
meet objectives and expectations. Partnerships are an essential
piece of the early childhood development and care investment.
Corporations are part of the community. Best practices are
community-based. And best practices are about collaborative
community leadership and almost always about partnerships.
What a great way to build a civil/civic society and promote
shared responsibility.
Perhaps we'll see business well represented at the Child
Care and Early Learning Conference in Winnipeg - November
2004. Entitled "Child Care - For a Change: Early Learning
and Child Care for the 21st Century", this conference
may interest many of you. As the promo says:
"Today we know that early learning and child care is
a social and economic driver for many interconnected issues:
it's integral to lifelong learning and healthy child development,
and to a sound and prosperous economy; it has significant
implications for women's equality, effective labour strategies,
and ameliorating poverty; and it contributes to flourishing
cities and strengthens social equity. High-quality child care
and early learning strengthens our social foundations - it
benefits children, women, parents, families, and communities
- ultimately, it benefits all Canadians. It's expected that
the (international) conference will play a key role in influencing
public policy and public perceptions about early learning
and child care and help set the agenda for the next decade."
Early child development and care thrives on interdependence
and collaboration in order to work and work well - it requires
leadership at all levels and business leadership at a high
level. That's why champions like Danny Graham, Marilyn More,
Diana Whalen, Peter Doig, Kathy Moggridge, Michele Rivard,
Matt McIvor, Chris O'Neil, Kathy Black, Lauren Copeland, Margaret
Fowler, Elizabeth Hicks, Eric Hicks, Barbara Bigelow, Laurie
St. Amour, Lynda Rice, Susan Johnston, Jon Kronick, Chris
Kronick, Fred MacGillivray, Connie McGowen, Karen McGinnis,
Rose Dean, Sandra McFadyen, Brigitte Newman, Darlene Shortell,
Fiona Merry and Andrew Starkey are here - that's why all of
you are here - that's why I'm here.
And when we talk about leadership in action (not
to mention a focus on children) in this province, the name
Goldbloom also comes to mind. Richard, not only have you achieved
milestones in pediatric medicine, pioneered family participation
in the care of hospitalized children and introduced one of
the first Care-by-Parents Units in Canada, I understand you
were named to the Discovery Centre Hall of Fame last year.
The Goldbloom family just never stops…Ruth, is a driving
force behind the Pier 21 Immigration Memorial and now your
granddaughter Ellen is the fourth-generation member of the
clan to add the initials MD to her name.
RBC Financial Group must also continue to do its part in
supporting children and youth. We take much pride in our After-School
Grant Program and other children-focused initiatives
It's great to see members of the Atlantic team here this afternoon
- Wayne Bossert (who leads the region), Denise Mounce, Nan
MacDonald and Trish Vardy. Talk about colleagues who "get
it"!
Special thanks to Elaine and the CCC-NS board for inviting
me to this special luncheon…and to Morgan Hicks for coordinating
this event. Child Care Connection Nova Scotia is doing great
things in this city and province - connecting child care professionals
with information, resources and support for quality child
care is making a real difference!
In closing, it's long overdue for the business leadership
voice to be heard in greater numbers. "In today's world,
where education and skill levels determine future earnings,
the economic and social costs to individuals, communities,
and the nation of not taking action on early childhood education
are far too great to ignore, especially when the benefits
far outweigh the costs." This is the path to prosperity
that matters to business - that matters to all of us!
Thanks very much. Now let's hear from you!
|
|
