Thursday, July 30, 2009
Recession Illustrates Variations Among Groups of Workers
As data on the recession is collected, trends in labour market attachment among worker populations are becoming evident:
- women aged 55 and older are experiencing employment gains and are the only group that has added to their numbers since the start of the recession
youth have the highest unemployment rate in 11 years; 15 to 24 year olds have an unemployment rate of 15.9
as of June 2009, 71% of Canada's unemployed are men
unemployment rates for recent immigrants are more than 3 times the rate for the Canadian-born; newcomers face a 5.7% decrease in employment levels compared to a 1.6% decrease for Canadian-born.
pregnant women are encountering discriminatory layoffs as employers downsize; since the downturn, the Ontario's Human Rights Legal Support Centre receives 10 to 15 calls a week from pregnant women anxious about their job security.
Labels: Issues_and_Trends
Monday, July 27, 2009
The State of the Sector: Challenges for Women's Economic Security in Ontario
During the current "he-cession" women thus far are less likely to be unemployed than men. But there is no indication that they will be more economically secure and suitably supported by services than men when this downturn ends.
Five informants, representing leading employment organizations from across the province, discussed the current state of women's economic security with ACTEW.
Even as women-specific employment and training services are more in demand than ever, these informants fear that many services in Ontario will not be able to survive predicted reductions or elimination of funding. Some feel this is a particularly threatening moment for women's services.
Our informants pointed out that women as a group still experience distinct needs and challenges in achieving economic security, facing many personal and systemic barriers.
Beyond the well-documented barriers women continue to face, such as childcare, transportation and systemically lower incomes, several informants noted health issues, such as mental health and the impact of violence, as a critical aspect of women's livelihoods that is overlooked by policy and program funding.
Informants described the impacts of the recession on women's employment. One noted that through her research on clerical workers, a trend is that "the ways in which women's jobs disappear are not acknowledged. Whenever there is a public recession, it’s the men’s jobs that are most at risk. Women are considered less of a priority."
Another informant reported that women “are increasingly becoming the breadwinners because men are losing jobs.” Agencies are struggling to find meaningful jobs for women, which has always been a challenge but one that is further exacerbated by the downturn.
Given the supposed "success" of women's employment (i.e. they so far have not faced the same job losses as men), the informants express worry about the future of employment and training services for women in Ontario.
Agencies that only serve women and especially agencies serving women in one stream of programming (e.g. self-employment) are concerned that they may lose MTCU funding to larger multi-service agencies, despite excellent performance records and strong reputations for their work. The general sentiment is that the larger organizations serving everyone will not understand the specific needs of varying populations, especially women.
Five informants, representing leading employment organizations from across the province, discussed the current state of women's economic security with ACTEW.
Even as women-specific employment and training services are more in demand than ever, these informants fear that many services in Ontario will not be able to survive predicted reductions or elimination of funding. Some feel this is a particularly threatening moment for women's services.
Our informants pointed out that women as a group still experience distinct needs and challenges in achieving economic security, facing many personal and systemic barriers.
Beyond the well-documented barriers women continue to face, such as childcare, transportation and systemically lower incomes, several informants noted health issues, such as mental health and the impact of violence, as a critical aspect of women's livelihoods that is overlooked by policy and program funding.
Informants described the impacts of the recession on women's employment. One noted that through her research on clerical workers, a trend is that "the ways in which women's jobs disappear are not acknowledged. Whenever there is a public recession, it’s the men’s jobs that are most at risk. Women are considered less of a priority."
Another informant reported that women “are increasingly becoming the breadwinners because men are losing jobs.” Agencies are struggling to find meaningful jobs for women, which has always been a challenge but one that is further exacerbated by the downturn.
Given the supposed "success" of women's employment (i.e. they so far have not faced the same job losses as men), the informants express worry about the future of employment and training services for women in Ontario.
Agencies that only serve women and especially agencies serving women in one stream of programming (e.g. self-employment) are concerned that they may lose MTCU funding to larger multi-service agencies, despite excellent performance records and strong reputations for their work. The general sentiment is that the larger organizations serving everyone will not understand the specific needs of varying populations, especially women.
Labels: ACTEW_Activities, Issues_and_Trends, Resources_and_Research
Policy Recommendations on Temporary Work from Maytree
Current immigration policies represent short-term fixes that will not serve Canada well in the future, states a new report by Naomi Alboim for the Maytree Foundation. In 2008, 247,202 permanent residents entered Canada, a 5.7% decline, compared with 272,520 temporary entrants, a 37.6% increase.
From the report:
"Seasonal agricultural workers, live-in caregivers, and low-skilled general workers are not entitled to bring their families with them to Canada. Temporary workers are not eligible for federally funded settlement services or language training. While they contribute to the Employment Insurance fund, these workers are also ineligible for benefits or training under that program (except for parental and compassionate care leave provisions)."
"Adjusting the Balance: Fixing Canada’s Economic Immigration Policies":
full report - http://www.maytree.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/adjustingthebalance-final.pdf
fact sheet - http://www.maytree.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/factsheet_adjustingthebalance.pdf
For more on temporary work, see also ACTEW's 2008 submission to the Ministry of Labour Consultation on "Work through Temporary Help Agencies": http://actew.org/blog/Temporary%20Help%20ACTEW%20Submission.pdf
From the report:
"Seasonal agricultural workers, live-in caregivers, and low-skilled general workers are not entitled to bring their families with them to Canada. Temporary workers are not eligible for federally funded settlement services or language training. While they contribute to the Employment Insurance fund, these workers are also ineligible for benefits or training under that program (except for parental and compassionate care leave provisions)."
"Adjusting the Balance: Fixing Canada’s Economic Immigration Policies":
full report - http://www.maytree.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/adjustingthebalance-final.pdf
fact sheet - http://www.maytree.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/factsheet_adjustingthebalance.pdf
For more on temporary work, see also ACTEW's 2008 submission to the Ministry of Labour Consultation on "Work through Temporary Help Agencies": http://actew.org/blog/Temporary%20Help%20ACTEW%20Submission.pdf
Labels: Issues_and_Trends, Resources_and_Research
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Service Delivery Advisory Group - August Meeting
The next meeting of the Employment Ontario Service Delivery Advisory Group (SDAG) with the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities (MTCU) is Tuesday August 18.
ACTEW members are invited to contact Paula Wansbrough at paula@actew.org with their concerns, ideas and observations regarding the implementation of Employment Ontario prior to the meeting.
Watch this blog for a report on the August meeting.
ACTEW members are invited to contact Paula Wansbrough at paula@actew.org with their concerns, ideas and observations regarding the implementation of Employment Ontario prior to the meeting.
Watch this blog for a report on the August meeting.
Labels: Meetings_and_Events, MTCU_Updates
