In absence of childcare options, B.C. family flies grandma in from Italy

As kids across B.C. return to class this month, many parents are scrambling once again to find before- and after-school childcare.

The situation has forced some to go to extreme lengths.

Vancouver mom Danielle Marcantuoni tells CityNews she searched high and low for anyone with available care space near her children’s French immersion River District school.

She had little luck, and with the family’s inability to afford a nanny removing that option from the table, she says she and her husband decided to bring her mother-in-law — who doesn’t speak any English — to the Lower Mainland from Italy for the next three months.

“That’s three adults and two small children in a two-bedroom apartment — 850 square feet. We have more people than beds,” Marcantuoni said, laughing.

“She’s staying with us for three months. Like, she has her husband and her elderly mother in Italy who she was also caring for, and she was so kind to come and help us out. That was literally our only option. We don’t have family locally that can help. There’s nothing.”

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Marcantuoni says her family tried everything they could think of to find a solution before they turned to her husband’s parents for help

She notes the first time she tried to find childcare for her eldest, she also faced challenges. However, the mother of two admits, she never thought it’d get to this point.

“I remember the first time, I posted on Facebook or something and was like, ‘Why is it so hard?!’ And one of my friends who has older children was like, ‘Oh, just you wait.’ And I thought to myself, how could it possibly be harder? I have learned,” she said.

Childcare Minister Grace Lore says the B.C. government understands parents are struggling, adding the province is working on it.

“We are making up for a lot of lost time where there wasn’t the investment in childcare as the critical service it is to kids, to families, to communities, to the economy,” she said.

“We’re still working with our partners on proposals, continuing to fund more spaces, get those that are being built open. This is ongoing work.”

‘Every year it’s just a struggle’

Marcantuoni says if she could get one message to politicians, it would be a plea for “more help,” now.

“There’s no … centralized information, there’s no guidance or very little. It’s mind boggling to me that, for decades now, the norm — obviously not for everyone — has been a two-parents-working household. Why is school still ending at 3 p.m. with nothing? With no commitment afterward?” she asked, laughing in disbelief.

“How is it, after this amount of time, that it has been two parents in a household working but there are no solutions? And every year it’s just a struggle. I’m not thinking like, ‘Oh they need to teach my child this and support them in that.’ Just keep them alive until I get home. That’s literally all I need. Keep them alive. You don’t even have to feed them, they can be hungry for one hour. I will feed them when I get home … I just need a place where they will be safe for a couple of hours.”

On Thursday, Premier David Eby announced families with children in eligible half-day preschool, as well as before- and after-school programs, will save as much as $145 per child per month as part of additional childcare fee reductions.

However, this move doesn’t help those who can’t find care spaces to begin with.

Martantuoni isn’t the only parent unable to find before- and after-school care for her kids.

Andrea is another working mom in Vancouver who has had her fair share of trouble finding a place for her child to go. She says she never pictured she would face so many challenges in finding care.

“It’s nerve wracking,” she told CityNews.

Vancouver mom says childcare situation ‘totally unacceptable’

She tells CityNews in many cases, some facilities have years-long waits. She’s been on two lists for over a year.

“It’s totally unacceptable. Childcare should be a right, it should just be a basic right of families that have children. People want to work, people need to go into the economy and feed the economy, especially during this economic crisis,” Andrea said. “For me, I’m a single parent, I don’t have a co-parent to fall on, I don’t have a second income. I have only me who I can rely on for care and there’s nothing available. If I don’t work, I’ll be pushed into poverty.”

Andrea says there are too many people and not enough spaces. As neighbourhoods grow and younger families move into her area, she says the competition for childcare just keeps growing.

“It’s like the Hunger Games of parenting,” she joked.

While she understands work is ongoing at the provincial level, Andrea says not all of the options help people in her situation.

“Subsidies are great if you can get into a centre that you can use a subsidy for. But you can’t even get in. People are literally putting themselves on waitlists while they’re still pregnant,” she explained. “I’m telling my friends that have one year olds, ‘my advice to you is if you know what elementary school you want your child to go to, put them on before- and after-school care waitlists now.'”

-With files from Monika Gul