No Family Left Behind: How family policies in Canada must adapt to better serve parents of children
Project: Time Use Research
Authors: Mattea Kott, Cathrine Becker and Kamila Kolpashnikova
Executive Summary
The current laws and protections for Canadian parents, especially those of children with disabilities, fail to provide adequate support. Canadian policies have shortcomings regarding limited financial support and rigid parental leave, as well as failing to help parents with adult children. Therefore, creating a system filled with added stressors that no parent needs. Using comparisons and critiques of current policies, this brief proposes a three-step plan to address these issues.
The federal government must improve monetary benefits to families with children with disabilities by providing consistent and reliable financial assistance through monthly payments, specific grants, and the improvement of existing programs.
It is crucial to enhance flexibility in parental leave, allowing for leave days to be stored for a later date or extended to accommodate unique circumstances.
These services must extend beyond the age of 18 and recognize the ongoing care needs that families provide children with disabilities.
It is critical to examine the necessity of reevaluating and reforming policies to better support parents of children with disabilities and assist every family in Canada.
Introduction
The discourse surrounding disability policy is increasing in Canada, particularly with the introduction of the Disability Inclusion Plan in 2022. These conversations are crucial, given that around 13% of youth in Canada have a disability and nearly 32% of children with disabilities were identified by their parents as having emotional, psychological, or behavioural conditions that limit their activities (see Figure 1). These limitations are bound to impact the daily lives of parents, including in the work sphere, making it critical for family and work policy to account for the experiences of these parents. This is especially important when considering that many parents cannot keep their jobs when their medically complex children are born and of those who do keep their jobs about 38% are forced to reduce work hours. It is important for Canadian policies to take into account these issues, as policy can have a major impact in supporting families in their caregiving role.
Figure 1: Childhood Disability in Canada
Limitations of Current Policies
In terms of national policies, Canada has two main disability benefits, the Child Disability Benefit (CDB) and the Disability Tax Credit (DTC). The latter is a non-refundable tax deduction, reducing the annual income tax these parents pay. The Child Disability Benefit is a tax-free payment of up to $3,173 annually for a child if they are under the age of 18 and qualify for the Disability Tax Credit. While this reduces some costs, it doesn’t provide a steady and consistent aid for families with long time dependents. Unfortunately, many of these financial services have been described as an added cost, burden, and stress.
National policy has also been critiqued for its lack of flexibility. This can be noted in the distinction between Quebec’s parental leave and Canada’s federal leave program. Canada has maternity leave with a maximum of 15 weeks as well as a standard (35 weeks) and extended (61 weeks) parental leaves available. Canada does not have an option for the banking of days, but in Quebec parents have a bank of 10 days within parental leave, which they can defer and use later in their child’s life. The inability to use days across a child’s life doesn’t accommodate for the time off that parents of children with disabilities may need. In addition to the inability to bank days, parents don’t have paid time off for medical leave and to be protected at work they need to be given advance notice which isn’t always possible with children. The Family Medical Leave protection in Ontario also doesn’t extend after the 28 weeks.
Another issue with these systems is that they do not extend beyond the age of 18. While there are disability policies aimed to support adults, they are not designed with families in mind, and fail to provide adequate support. As one parent noted, the abrupt end to support after a child turns 18 is an added stress “I would ask for more guidance when it comes to transition into adulthood”. Acknowledging the ineffectiveness of existing programs highlights the urgency for program reform rather than justifying further inaction.
Policy Recommendations
We recommend the following modifications and expansions of Canada’s current support systems for families with children with disabilities with hopes for these changes to be implemented by 2029.
Increase monetary benefits for families with children with disabilities. There should be consistent, reliable, and effective financial assistance given to parents of children. In comparison, in Germany, people with disabilities of any type that limit work are entitled to an average of $13,119 CAD per annum, while Canadian parents get a maximum of up to $3,173. There are additional housing benefits, transportation compensation, and home renovation grants available in Germany, but not in Canada.
Increase funding allocation to existing programs like the Child Disability Benefit and Disability Tax Credit and for the government to consider restructuring spending to provide a more livable stream of income for families with children with disabilities.
Investing in better financial support systems, which can lead to improved outcomes for individuals with disabilities, reduced reliance on costly interventions in the future, and enhance overall societal well-being.
Make parental leave more flexible with a possibility for banking days, especially for parents of children with disabilities. This is done in Sweden, where parenting leaves are taken in days rather than weeks, and leave time can be used in many ways until a child turns 12.
Introduce flexible parental leave options nationally, similar to Quebec, to allow for the banking of days or extended leave periods.
Ensure that support programs are accessible to those who need them. This also means proper funding and staffing.
All support for parents of children with disabilities must extend past the child’s 18th birthday, across their life course. Parent caregivers of adult children must be allocated the same support as younger parents in similar circumstances.
Figure 2: Modifications to Canada's System
It is crucial that the conversation surrounding disability continues and family and work policies in Canada must improve to support all families. Canada must learn from other regions and countries and take proactive steps to overhaul our approach to supporting families with children with disabilities. It is crucial that research continues in the field and stakeholders such as politicians, potential funders, program organizers, and most importantly families, are involved. The modifications previously noted may be costly and time consuming, but they are worth it for policies to protect and accommodate all families.
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