Yes, we're currently experiencing the fallout. The pandemic has wreaked havoc on the most vulnerable families. Among other things, more incidents have been reported at the Youth Protection Branch. The pandemic has isolated families and children. We have families who use services to feed their children, and that's very important in this time of inflation we're experiencing.
When it comes to the labour shortage, it's a vicious circle. Take health services, for example. We don't have enough people who can work in the system right now. We need more workers, but they can't work because they don't have access to child care. Child care used to be a go-to solution when people needed to balance work and family, and now it's become a critical and urgent need to address the labour shortage plaguing all sectors of the economy.
Therefore, child care services don't just meet children's needs, they also help balance work and family, which is very important.