\nArticle content<\/h2>\n The high number of women applying for the caregiver benefit in those provinces matches overall labour trends during the pandemic. In 2020, while the average female employment rate across Canada retreated to levels last seen in 1996, both Alberta (1984) and Ontario (1993) have seen even greater retracements, according to Yalnizyan.<\/p>\n
With the federal budget looming on Monday, there has been increasing talk of creating a national daycare program that would allow more women to enter the workforce and help revive the ravaged economy.<\/p>\nLaunched in September, the CRCB pays $450 per week after taxes, to workers who must take time off due to the pandemic to care for their own children aged 12 or younger or a family member who needs supervised care.<\/p>\n
Most people who apply for the CRCB are adults in typical childbearing years: 60 per cent are between the ages of 25 and 45.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are not able to do three jobs: a paid job, as well as unpaid remote schooling and unpaid childcare,\u201d Yalnizyan said.<\/p>\n
\nThey are not able to do three jobs: a paid job, as well as unpaid remote schooling and unpaid childcare<\/p>\n
Armine Yalnizyan<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
To help quell spikes in COVID-19 case counts, officials in Ontario and Alberta have closed schools at various times over the past year. This week, Ontario announced schools would remain closed indefinitely following the return from a delayed March break. Dozens of Alberta schools have shifted to at-home learning with another 60 Calgary-area schools scheduled to do so next week, the province said in a statement.<\/p>\n
Other provinces that have experienced less severe outbreaks have not closed schools as often. British Columbia, for example, has not closed schools province-wide since the pandemic began last March.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n
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This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n\nArticle content<\/h2>\n The benefit itself has not received the level of interest that the government expected. Less than half of the money allocated to the program has been used. Of the $4.9 billion that the federal government set aside for caregivers from October to March, $2 billion has been paid out as of April 11.
Workers would likely lose money since the benefit pays $450 per week after taxes, less than minimum wage, and applicants must lose more than 50 per cent of their weekly hours to qualify. And caregivers can apply only if schools or daycares are mandated to shut down due to the pandemic.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can\u2019t make plans when the provincial government waits until the night before to tell you whether schools will be shut down,\u201d said Allison Venditti, founder of advocacy group Moms at Work and a mother of three who applied for the CRCB to help homeschool and care for her kids.<\/p>\n Even as the economy rebounds and more jobs are created, women who took leaves from work may still face steep hurdles when they try to return.<\/span> Photo by Lars Baron\/Getty Images files<\/span> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\u201cThat\u2019s why people are taking leaves. If you\u2019re already in a position where your ability to work is being questioned because your employer is doubting your commitment, then within 12 hours you find out schools are closing, how do you figure that out?\u201d<\/p>\n
Even as the economy rebounds and more jobs are created, women who took leaves from work may still face steep hurdles when they try to return.<\/p>\n
Deborah Hudson, a Toronto-based labour and employment lawyer who specializes in workplace discrimination, said the pandemic prompted a spike in women seeking legal advice on wrongful terminations, refusals to accommodate flexible schedules for childcare needs, and negative performance reviews \u2014 which are tied to compensation \u2014 that fail to account for challenges wrought by the pandemic.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n
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This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n\nArticle content<\/h2>\n \u201cI see a lot of women being squeezed out of the workforce,\u201d Hudson said. \u201cOne year into the pandemic, I\u2019m hearing from a lot of moms that have struggled to work this year, and they are mentally unwell now because they have been doing so much work at their job and at home.\u201d<\/p>\n
But forcing women out of the workforce has significant downsides for the broader economy. In families with young children, women contribute about 40 per cent of household income. They are also the biggest spenders when it comes to household consumption overall, according to Yalnizyan.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n\n Canada must avoid the \u20182% growth trap,\u2019 when pandemic ends, Scotia CEO says <\/span><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n The pandemic exposed flaws in Canada\u2019s economic system. Fixing them won\u2019t be easy <\/span><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n Low-paid women have been hurt most by the recession, and they risk being left behind by the recovery <\/span><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n The hidden threat to Canada\u2019s economic recovery \u2014 our mental health <\/span><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/section>\n\u201cIf you\u2019re knocking out a bunch of people that drive the biggest spending cohort within households, you\u2019re having a macro-economic pile-on effect,\u201d Yalnizyan said. \u201cSo you want to get these women back into the labour market to sustain purchasing power. It\u2019s not a women problem, it\u2019s a macro-economic problem \u2014 it\u2019s not the businesses that creates jobs, it\u2019s customers.\u201d<\/p>\n
She is one of those calling on the federal government to increase spending on childcare to $8-billion, up from $1.8-billion last year.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you think of it as education instead of babysitting, then you\u2019re on the right track,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Financial Post<\/em><\/p>\n\u2022 Email: smarotta@postmedia.com | Twitter: