Parental Satisfaction with Child Care under Canada’s Low-Cost Policy: A Thematic and LLM-Based Analysis

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Thursday 9:45 am - Gold 2
  In Roundtable Session: Family and Parent Engagement

Abstract

Canada’s low-cost child care policy capped fees at $10 daily, yet access and quality issues remain. In 2024, our online survey of 1,341 parents across Canada’s four largest provinces examined satisfaction and reasons behind it using six-phase thematic analysis and AI-driven emotion coding. Overall, 81.3% were satisfied, citing affordability, hours, location, quality, and work–study balance, while 18.7% were unsatisfied, pointing to space shortages, scheduling conflicts, and lack of peer interaction. Centre-based care users reported higher satisfaction than those in home-based or informal arrangements. White, older, and higher-income parents were more satisfied than Black and lower-income groups. These findings reveal persistent equity gaps and point to the importance of studying how low-cost care reforms can better meet diverse family needs.

Authors

• Esther Yu, University of Toronto - OISE

• Yunqi Xie, University of Toronto - OISE

• Samantha Burns, University of Guelph

• Joel Wiebe, University of Toronto - OISE

• Jesseca Perlman, University of Toronto - OISE

• Michal Perlman, University of Toronto - OISE