The PEI Advisory Council on the Status of Women released a policy document today that examines the issue of women’s unpaid work and makes recommendations for change. The release of this policy document reflects the Advisory Council’s concern about the continuing inequities that result from the undervaluing of women’s unpaid work.
"Island women are propping up the province’s economy," says Chairperson Patricia Roy, "but, they do not receive appropriate recognition or rewards for their efforts. As long as women continue to be the ones required to sacrifice their own health and financial security to attend to household and caregiving work, equality will never be achieved."
"It has long been recognized that both women and men do work for which they are not paid, however, women do most of it. Traditionally, Island women have done whatever it takes to keep their homes and communities running smoothly while Island men focused their efforts on their work outside the home," says Roy. "Now things have changed because most Island women participate in the paid workforce. While at the same time, their at-home responsibilities have remained the same. In fact, given government cutbacks, they have likely increased."
Ms. Roy says that Island women themselves may undervalue what they do. "They call their work 'helping out' or 'doing their bit'," says Ms. Roy. "Many women do not appreciate the fact that they do the work that is most essential to day-to-day survival and that our economy would collapse without their efforts."
Given deeply entrenched societal attitudes that narrow the vision of "work" to only those activities that generate payment, both provincial and federal governments continue to make budget and policy decisions without gender considerations and without complete information. With women's unpaid contributions remaining mostly invisible, people's awareness and perception of the issue remains low. In order for both levels of government to start developing realistic budgets and appropriate policies, they must have accurate information that includes all forms of work.
The Advisory Council also suggests that the provincial government could show leadership on the issue by serving as a model employer that demonstrates ways to accommodate the reality of women’s unpaid work within the paid workplace. As well, given that many of the changes required to provide equity must come from the federal government, the provincial government needs to work on shared policy items such as taxation, labour, and child care. To begin to address the inequities associated with women’s unpaid work, the Advisory Council on the Status of Women recommends that the Province of Prince Edward Island take a number of strategic actions:
To help the public understand the issue and to encourage women to value what they do:
• Sponsor a provincial public education and awareness campaign on unpaid work.
To produce budget and policy decisions that include consideration of unpaid contributions:
• Commit to a budget development process that uses real costs and benefits, not just cash transactions, and analyzes the differing impacts of budget decisions on women and men.
• Commit to a policy development process that analyzes the real impacts of policy change on women and men.
To learn about the impact of unpaid work on Island women:
• Conduct a participatory study on the impact of reductions in budgets and services associated with the Department of Health and Social Services on women’s workloads, wellbeing, and financial security.
• Conduct a participatory study that measures and analyzes contributions being made by Island women to the province’s three main industries - tourism, farming, and fishing.
To provide leadership as an employer of women:
• Conduct a gender analysis of all workplace policies within the provincial civil service and make changes that will accommodate women’s unpaid responsibilities.
• Expand current employment equity policies within the provincial civil service to include appropriate skills assessment, women-specific training, employment strategies, and topup payments for those who take maternity and parental leave.
• Provide incentives to the Island’s private employers so they will develop their own employment equity policies.
To influence change at the federal level:
• Advocate for measures such as fairer taxation; allow unpaid workers to contribute to the Canada Pension Plan; modify the Census to get a full picture of all work in Canada; adopt complete economic measures such as the Genuine Progress Indicator; include unpaid work in Labour Force Surveys; modify maternity and parental benefits to make them more available to all Canadians; and provide universally-funded child care.
"Women are feeling the stress associated with their dual roles and they are feeling the long-term financial distress. They are likely to blame themselves when, in fact, they are facing a huge societal issue that will require major changes in attitude and practice by both genders and by our governments," concludes Ms. Roy.
Copies of the policy guide and supporting materials may be obtained by contacting the Advisory Council office.
Contact: Patricia Roy, Chairperson 368-4510
Heidi Rankin, Director 368-4510