OTTAWA - A new report says families who pay to put young children in daycare won't benefit as much from the Conservative government's proposed family tax-and-benefit package as families with older kids or those who don't need child care.
The parliamentary budget officer says that in 2015-16, families with children under 13 who pay for child care will receive 49 per cent of the benefits from a boost to the universal child care benefit and a tax deduction for child care expenses.
The report says that's down from about 66 per cent in 2013-14.
But the PBO says families with older kids or those who don't pay for child care will see their share of the benefits rise to 51 per cent in 2015-16 from 34 per cent in 2013-14.
That's because the new monthly benefit of $60 for children aged six through 17 now covers more families — those with older kids who don't require daycare — than when it only applied to families with kids under six.
In October, the government said it would replace the child tax credit with the monthly universal child care benefit, adding $60 to the monthly $100 cheque for kids under six and creating a new $60 benefit for children between ages six and 17.