Most Canadians would prefer a national day-care program over a federal cash payout, says a new report prepared by YWCA Canada.

"You can give people money in hand, but if there is nowhere to spend that money, it's not going to help them in any significant way," said Debra Mayer, the principal researcher for the YWCA Canada report.

According to Mayer the greatest problem affecting child care in Canada is availability of care, especially for children with special needs, Mayer told CTV Newsnet.

Although YWCA Canada supports the government's decision to give money to families with young children, Mayer argues that this money "doesn't help a child with a disability attend an inclusive program."

Four community task forces were set up in Halifax, Vancouver, Martensville, Sask., and Cambridge, Ont., to look at how child care could be strengthened.

Each of the groups said they wanted integrated services and they wanted it publicly funded, said study director Jenny Robinson.

"What we find is that if parents have money to buy services, there are still no services to buy, so we need to build a system,'' she said.

The findings are contrary to a vow by Prime Minister Stephen Harper to scrap Liberal plans for a federal child-care system by March 31, 2007.

The Conservatives want to replace the $5-billion, five-year program set up by their Liberal predecessors with direct payments to parents of $1,200 a year for each child under the age of six.

Robinson said they are in favour of the $1,200 a year, but she sees it as income support, not a child-care program.

"Because we know that money in parents' hands doesn't build a child-care system," she told CTV Toronto.

"And coincidentally, all the participants in our city across the country said that that's not what they wanted. They actually wanted a system."

The YWCA Canada report says women would be disproportionately affected if the national child-care program is scrapped because that will mean more women will have to stay at home.

It won't make sense for women to work when their paycheques go to paying for day-care expenses, YWCA Canada says.

"We're definitely in favour of income support for parents, but we don't think that the $1,200 a year will build a system of child-care across the country that so many parents need,'' Robinson said.

Child care experts are meeting in Toronto Monday to discuss the results of the YWCA report.

The report's findings were based on four focus groups consisting of 25 to 30 community volunteers, who met at least five times during the year to discuss child care in Canada.

The focus groups included representatives from the child-care community, government, media, business and non-profit groups.

Before being defeated in the Jan. 23 election, the Liberals reached agreements with Quebec, Ontario and Manitoba on the five-year plan.

The remaining provinces had one-year agreements in principle in effect.

The YWCA commissioned the task forces from fall 2004 to fall 2005.

However, not everybody agrees with the report's findings.

Donna Sheehan, from the Fund The Child Movement, advocates a parent's right to make their family's child care decisions.

Sheehan supports the "principle behind the Conservative program where they respect a parent's right to choose."

Sheehan also notes that other studies have shown that 90 per cent of parents prefer to have their very young children looked after by either a parent of close family member and that the day-care option is actually their fifth choice.

"I think the Conservative government program recognizes that most parents prefer to look after very young children in different ways and their option actually respects that principle," Sheehan told CTV.

With a report by Alicia Kay Markson and files from The Canadian Press