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This report looks at the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economic security of women in Canada and the current efforts to respond to urgent economic need in the short- to medium-term, as well as demands for fundamental systemic change moving forward. ...The study focuses on three areas: it examines the impact of COVID-19 on women’s participation in the labour market since the pandemic struck in spring of 2020; it assesses the impact of federal and provincial government programs and income supports through a gendered and intersectional lens; and it examines gaps in the system and proposes measures to help women get through the COVID crisis and ensure their speedy return to the labour market once the worst of the crisis is over.
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The COVID-19 pandemic wiped out 35 years of women’s economic gains in two short months. At the height of the lockdown, women were working 27 per cent fewer hours, in the aggregate, than in February 2020. In total, 2.8 million women lost their job or were working less than half of their regular hours because of the March 2020 economic lockdowns. This report examines what’s happened to women in the workforce since. It finds mixed reviews: many women in higher-paying jobs are now doing better than before the pandemic. However, women in low-paying, pandemic-vulnerable jobs and in the care economy are still having a rough time of things. The COVID-19 crisis illustrated both the shortcomings of existing policies and institutions and what’s possible with strong public leadership. The imperative now is to apply the lessons of COVID-19 in service of a more resilient and inclusive labour market and gender-just future. Institutional reforms and greater awareness of the damaging impacts of gender disparities may yet create opportunities for systemic change. --Website description
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The arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 triggered the introduction of public health measures that would close large sectors of the economy and send millions of workers home. In two short months, the unemployment rate reached 14.1 per cent—the highest level since 1936, in the midst of the Great Depression. In all, 2.7 million workers lost their job outright, while another 2.2 million lost all or half of their working hours. Many more would be affected in the months ahead as the economy recovered in fits and starts. Canada, like countries around the world, quickly responded with a raft of income security tools and strategies to cope with the economic fallout. Programs such as the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) and its successor programs. There are few sources of information that document people’s experiences while on CERB. This research project has been designed to help fill this gap. Working with Abacus Data, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives conducted focus groups and an online survey of 1,500 Canadians to help better understand the program’s impact on recipients and to explore the role CERB played in shaping their decisions with respect to skills, education or training and the pursuit of new work opportunities during this period. The focus groupswere hosted in mid-September 2022 and the survey was fielded between Nov. 18 and 25, 2022. The focus groups surfaced and explored key issues for CERB recipients, information which, in turn, informed the content and design of our larger survey. CERB and other emergency benefit programs have ended, but there is still much to learn about the experience and its impact given current economic stresses and the pressing imperative to ensure public programs are recession ready. The introduction of emergency pandemic benefits offers a unique opportunity to examine important questions about Canada’s current income security safety net and how it works (or does not) to support individuals in their efforts to achieve greater economic security and enhanced well-being. --Website description
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In this book, independent experts analyze the performance of Justin Trudeau’s years in power in over 20 important areas of government policy. The record of what has been done–and what hasn’t–will surprise even well-informed readers. The focus is on six policy areas: Indigenous rights, governance and housing; the environment and energy; taxes and spending; healthcare and social benefits; foreign policy, immigration, and trade; and social policy including drug reform, labour rights, and racism. Editors Katherine Scott, Laura Macdonald, and Stuart Trew of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives have recruited Canada’s most knowledgeable experts in their areas to contribute to this volume. -- Publisher's description