“Not just somebody’s mother”: University Campus Daycare Co-operatives in Ontario and British Columbia, 1960s to 1970s

Abstract

Daycare is now a common sight on university campuses, but this was not always the case. This project examines the creation of daycare co-operatives on university campuses in the late 1960s and early 1970s, using the case studies of Simon Fraser University, the University of Toronto, and Queen’s University. The focus of the research is on the ideological bases of the co-operatives and their connections to the New Left and Women’s Liberation movements. In addition, the conflicts between the more radical daycare co-operatives and the liberal university administrations and provincial licensing bodies are explored.