Is a pan-Canadian early child development system possible? Yes, when we redress what ails Canadian culture
P Kershaw, L Anderson
Canada lags behind other countries when it comes to investing in
families with children. Canada, therefore, fails to promote health by
not optimizing early development. The authors diagnose the Canadian
failure. The problem is not research or fiscal capacity, but rather a sickness
in Canadian culture. Four ailments are identified: Canadians are
convinced they cannot afford new social investments, tend to treat
illness rather than promote health, ignore that good family policy
requires gender equality, and discount intergenerational justice. In
response, the authors propose four policy solutions. Their pan-Canadian framework would cost $22 billion annually, not even
one-half of current elderly and pension benefits. The new investment
would reduce child vulnerability from approximately 30% to just 10%
of children within 10 years. This reduction in early vulnerability
would increase gross domestic product 20% more over 60 years than if
Canadians tolerate the status quo.
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