International Women’s Day has its roots in women’s labour, in the early 20th century when women organized together to call for a life that includes both basic necessities and celebration. When they sang for bread and roses, they were stating that moments of joy, friendship and beauty were not luxuries for the fortunate few.

Today, attention has focused in on a just COVID recovery and the increasingly obvious disparity among who is bouncing back quickly and those who are not. In many cases women, especially women of colour, have seen a disproportionate increase in care-giving responsibilities without a matching level of support from employers or government benefits programs. Affordable, accessible, quality child care is just one piece of the puzzle for achieving gender equity, and it will go a long way to leveling the playing field.

Here’s what we know

Women make up 81% of frontline healthcare and social assistance workers. They're also 56% of what the YWCA refers to as the 5 Cs: caring, cashiering, catering, cleaning and clerical labourers. Together, they have been in essential roles throughout each lockdown and yet also saw the bulk of layoffs. According to the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, labour force participation of women fell by nearly 900,000 across the country, to levels not seen since the 1980s. Many of these drops are attributed to increases in family caregiving, and for those trying to get back to full-time work, these COVID-related responsibilities haven’t disappeared in many cases.   

According to a Childcare Resource and Research Unit report, the median annual wage for a child care worker in Alberta in 2015 was $35,893 which doesn’t provide an incentive to stay long term. Child care centres across the province struggle to keep trained staff onboard long term, sometimes because people who want to work with young children can receive a significant pay increase and benefits by shifting into public education or healthcare. This perpetuates a cycle of a shortage of child care options.

With the federal funding towards a $10/day child care plan, thousands of new frontline workers will need to be recruited and receive adequate training to join a workforce that is chronically undervalued. The most recent Alberta budget announcements have allocated $666 million for over the next year in provincial and federal dollars to establishing 42,500 additional spaces. The new lower costs have led to an increase in waitlists; however, labour surveys predicted a shortage of over 4,600 early childhood educators in Alberta by 2028.

It’s not all bad news

Advocates and community leaders have been working towards recognizing the expertise and training for early childhood educators so they can receive the same compensation and respect as peers with a similar level of education. Part of the federal-provincial funding arrangement includes wage top-ups for roughly 1,300 childhood educators. Affordable care can’t be achieved without the workforce to support it, and with an adequate top-up and subsidies the workforce can now afford care for their own children (for other low-income families, even subsidized care is still out of reach). Women’s ability to both participate in the local economy, and live a life that meets their personal goals and desires, is equally dependent on strengthening this sector.

What are the advocates calling for?

• The Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) played a huge role in lessening the severity of financial strain, but then it ended. Women need long-term supports as they are currently re-joining the traditional labour pool at a slower pace. A guaranteed basic income helps to ensure that no one falls through the cracks, and paired with a universal child care program, opens doors for women’s economic independence.
• The application of an intersectional lens on emergency benefits or business relief programs would mean examining each program to see how different populations are included or left out. One possible outcome is the requirement of sick days, living wages, family leaves and other benefits for sectors that employ high numbers of racialized and immigrant women, like the early learning and child care sector.
• Municipalities across the country have taken up the mantel of child care provision in various ways, and historically Calgary was no different. More recently, Alberta-based advocates have pointed to Ontario’s work in partnering with schools to provide full-day kindergarten programs. In Calgary, better partnerships between Calgary Board of Education and non-profit providers could lead to extended before and after-school care.   

For this International Women’s Day, let’s celebrate progress while recognizing the work that still needs to be done.

Resources

• Edmonton Social Planning Council's blog Child care and municipalities
• Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives published Women, work and COVID-19: Priorities for supporting women and the economy
• A Feminist Economic Recovery Plan for Canada is a plan for all governments to consider as the economy reopens.