Thursday, December 27, 2007
Struggles Persist for Single Moms: article
Today, the Toronto Star published an article revisiting three women that had been featured in articles throughout the year. Rita Daly, the article's author, found that while a moment of fame can change some people's lives forever, "in the case of three single mothers raising children in poverty that Toronto Star readers met over the course of the past year or so, life, well, life goes on." Little has changed for the women.
Read the article that features Amany, who lost her daycare subsidy because she worked an extra few hours at her job; Maheswary, who worked two part-time night jobs, which barely covered the rent for her and her two sons; and Cheryl, who was told that she owed the Ontario government more than $2,000 for the orphan benefits her two children received after their father died.
Read the full article.
Read the article that features Amany, who lost her daycare subsidy because she worked an extra few hours at her job; Maheswary, who worked two part-time night jobs, which barely covered the rent for her and her two sons; and Cheryl, who was told that she owed the Ontario government more than $2,000 for the orphan benefits her two children received after their father died.
Read the full article.
Labels: Issues_and_Trends, Resources_and_Research
Friday, December 14, 2007
Policies Responsive to Differing Work Patterns Better Utilize Women's Labour Potential
Current labour market policies don't recognize women as a significant labour market force with specific patterns. A study released by the government of Canada in 2005 analyzes how Canadian fiscal policy reinforces the many social, economic and legal barriers women face when they try to gain equal access to full-time work with equal pay, and examines structural proposals that would remove or reduce these barriers to women's labour force participation. From the study:
“Five basic structural features of the tax and social assistance system are examined for their tendency to place pressure on women to “choose” unpaid or poorly paid irregular work to optimize the well-being of their families. These include provisions that treat the adult couple as the basic unit of fiscal policy, like the dependent spouse credit, joint income limits on the child tax benefit, and the Goods and Services Tax credit. They also include the tax exemption of unpaid work, the lack of adequate child care resources and the non-deductibility of the many costs that make women's paid work often less profitable than unpaid work, the steep clawback rates in social assistance programs and the relatively high rates of income taxes imposed on the lowest incomes.”
A recent study released from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) finds that, again due to specific labour patterns, most women are getting shut out of Employment Insurance (EI) coverage in Canada. Exclusion from EI also means exclusion from most of the training programs and supports offered through EI funding (Read ACTEW’s blog entry on this research). While individual training programs and supports run by agencies recognize women-specific labour patterns, needs and opportunities, provincial and federal labour market development policy has so far not systemically implemented strategies that would fully maximize women’s participation in the labour force. In fact, data collection segregated by gender is patchy at best, so provinces are hard-pressed to fully understand the ways in which half the labour force is being utilized and where improvements can be made.
Only one province in Canada has made significant progress in understanding and supporting women’s unique contexts to more fully participate in the workforce: Quebec. Quebec has introduced legislation that extends maternity and parental leave to self-employed workers—significantly affecting women who are outpacing men three-fold in becoming entrepreneurs. Quebec is also the only province to implement universal accessible child care, which the Quebec government identifies as a key reason that women’s participation rates have increased dramatically in the last ten years (read Le bulletin du Cetech released by the government of Quebec in Winter 2007).
“Five basic structural features of the tax and social assistance system are examined for their tendency to place pressure on women to “choose” unpaid or poorly paid irregular work to optimize the well-being of their families. These include provisions that treat the adult couple as the basic unit of fiscal policy, like the dependent spouse credit, joint income limits on the child tax benefit, and the Goods and Services Tax credit. They also include the tax exemption of unpaid work, the lack of adequate child care resources and the non-deductibility of the many costs that make women's paid work often less profitable than unpaid work, the steep clawback rates in social assistance programs and the relatively high rates of income taxes imposed on the lowest incomes.”
A recent study released from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) finds that, again due to specific labour patterns, most women are getting shut out of Employment Insurance (EI) coverage in Canada. Exclusion from EI also means exclusion from most of the training programs and supports offered through EI funding (Read ACTEW’s blog entry on this research). While individual training programs and supports run by agencies recognize women-specific labour patterns, needs and opportunities, provincial and federal labour market development policy has so far not systemically implemented strategies that would fully maximize women’s participation in the labour force. In fact, data collection segregated by gender is patchy at best, so provinces are hard-pressed to fully understand the ways in which half the labour force is being utilized and where improvements can be made.
Only one province in Canada has made significant progress in understanding and supporting women’s unique contexts to more fully participate in the workforce: Quebec. Quebec has introduced legislation that extends maternity and parental leave to self-employed workers—significantly affecting women who are outpacing men three-fold in becoming entrepreneurs. Quebec is also the only province to implement universal accessible child care, which the Quebec government identifies as a key reason that women’s participation rates have increased dramatically in the last ten years (read Le bulletin du Cetech released by the government of Quebec in Winter 2007).
Labels: Issues_and_Trends, LMDA, Resources_and_Research
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Women's Employment Patterns Differ from Men's
ACTEW has just released a fact sheet focusing on Canadian Women’s labour patterns, based on an environmental scan ACTEW recently conducted for the Canadian Women’s Foundation.
Women's work patterns are not the same as men's. While men's employment patterns have changed little, women's are changing dramatically. Thirty years ago, the participation rate difference between the sexes was 31%; it is now 8%. Twice as many mothers of preschool children were working in 2006, compared with 1976. Young women are more likely to be university educated than their male peers and older women are working full-time in record numbers. Currently, women make up almost half of the labour force and account for close to three-quarters (70%) of the employment increases in Canada in 2007.
Most governments know that women are participating in increasing numbers, and experiencing low levels of unemployment. They point to this fact as evidence that women no longer require specific policy focus. However, how women access the labour market also differs significantly from men, and women are not experiencing increased income levels commensurate with increased participation.
Women are more likely to have breaks in their work histories, perform unpaid caregiving at the expense of paid employment, work part-time and be in low-paying occupations. Consequently, women have far less access to the benefits of EI, less access to training, and are paid on average 28 cents less per hour then men in work of equal value. Women still tend to be under-represented in “non-traditional occupations”, although some regions in Canada are seeing significant improvements in women’s participation, largely due to programs that support women entering into skilled trades.
Read and/or download ACTEW’s newest fact sheet Canadian Women’s Labour Patterns on ACTEW’s Putting Women in the Picture web site.
Women's work patterns are not the same as men's. While men's employment patterns have changed little, women's are changing dramatically. Thirty years ago, the participation rate difference between the sexes was 31%; it is now 8%. Twice as many mothers of preschool children were working in 2006, compared with 1976. Young women are more likely to be university educated than their male peers and older women are working full-time in record numbers. Currently, women make up almost half of the labour force and account for close to three-quarters (70%) of the employment increases in Canada in 2007.
Most governments know that women are participating in increasing numbers, and experiencing low levels of unemployment. They point to this fact as evidence that women no longer require specific policy focus. However, how women access the labour market also differs significantly from men, and women are not experiencing increased income levels commensurate with increased participation.
Women are more likely to have breaks in their work histories, perform unpaid caregiving at the expense of paid employment, work part-time and be in low-paying occupations. Consequently, women have far less access to the benefits of EI, less access to training, and are paid on average 28 cents less per hour then men in work of equal value. Women still tend to be under-represented in “non-traditional occupations”, although some regions in Canada are seeing significant improvements in women’s participation, largely due to programs that support women entering into skilled trades.
Read and/or download ACTEW’s newest fact sheet Canadian Women’s Labour Patterns on ACTEW’s Putting Women in the Picture web site.
Labels: ACTEW_Activities, Issues_and_Trends, Resources_and_Research
Monday, December 10, 2007
Women Shut Out of EI: New Study
Most women are getting shut out of Employment Insurance (EI) coverage in Canada, says a new study by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA).
The gap between men's and women’s EI coverage is significant: 40 percent of unemployed men received EI benefits in 2004 while only 32 percent of unemployed women did. The study shows the likelihood of most women ever receiving unemployment benefits is slim, largely because EI doesn’t recognize that women have different patterns of paid work than men due to their family responsibilities. The study found a number of changes to EI in 1996 led to increasing the gap between men’s and women’s EI coverage, but the current work hours/weeks required to qualify have been the biggest barrier to women securing benefits.
These findings correspond with ACTEW’s research on Women and EI, released in a fact sheet in January 2007. This research found that women with young children are the least likely to qualify for EI. While women have increased accessing EI through maternal and/or parental benefits, many women do not qualify for maternity/parental leave, either due to being self-employed or being out of the workforce for extended periods.
The CCPA study recommends the federal government make 360 hours the new magic number for qualifying for EI. Workers could qualify for benefits if they work 360 hours within 12 months or if they averaged 360 hours a year in three of the five years before they apply for EI. The new 360 hour rule would apply to workers seeking all categories of benefits: regular, work-sharing, maternity, parental, sickness, compassionate care and training.
The study, “Women and the Employment Insurance Program”, can be downloaded from the CCPA web site.
The gap between men's and women’s EI coverage is significant: 40 percent of unemployed men received EI benefits in 2004 while only 32 percent of unemployed women did. The study shows the likelihood of most women ever receiving unemployment benefits is slim, largely because EI doesn’t recognize that women have different patterns of paid work than men due to their family responsibilities. The study found a number of changes to EI in 1996 led to increasing the gap between men’s and women’s EI coverage, but the current work hours/weeks required to qualify have been the biggest barrier to women securing benefits.
These findings correspond with ACTEW’s research on Women and EI, released in a fact sheet in January 2007. This research found that women with young children are the least likely to qualify for EI. While women have increased accessing EI through maternal and/or parental benefits, many women do not qualify for maternity/parental leave, either due to being self-employed or being out of the workforce for extended periods.
The CCPA study recommends the federal government make 360 hours the new magic number for qualifying for EI. Workers could qualify for benefits if they work 360 hours within 12 months or if they averaged 360 hours a year in three of the five years before they apply for EI. The new 360 hour rule would apply to workers seeking all categories of benefits: regular, work-sharing, maternity, parental, sickness, compassionate care and training.
The study, “Women and the Employment Insurance Program”, can be downloaded from the CCPA web site.
Labels: Issues_and_Trends, Resources_and_Research
