Excerpt: "Launching this fall, the new BC Child Opportunity Benefit will help lift up thousands of kids and give them the opportunities they deserve, now and down the road.
Families with one child will be eligible to receive up to $1,600 annually. For two children, that goes up to $2,600, and it's up to $3,400 for three kids. People can bank on this tax-free support up until their child's eighteenth birthday. On top of the new benefit, this will be the first full year that people won't have to pay the unfair MSP premium. Together, these two measures could save families thousands of dollars that they can put towards what really matters: setting up the next generation for success.
For many, that starts with access to affordable, high-quality child care. Child care for all is closer than ever to becoming a reality in our province. Thousands of new licensed child care spaces are opening, and some parents are saving nearly $20,000 annually. Budget 2020 builds on the progress with total investments reaching $2 billion over three years for child care in British Columbia. Child care is critical to achieving equality in the workplace, helping to close the gender pay gap, and giving more parents — particularly women — the opportunity to take their careers to the next level.
We are also investing in B.C.'s early childhood educators — again, almost entirely women — with more bursaries and increased wages. Additionally, B.C.'s minimum wage will rise to more than $15 per hour by 2021. For the almost 140,000 people who currently earn minimum wage, more than half of which are women, this will provide a much-needed boost."
