FEWO Committee Report

A lone mother with one child living the average distance below the poverty line in a large city would have had an estimated income of $16,467 in 2004. Most parents would have a real challenge balancing rent, food, child care and medical expenses on that meagre an income.[71]

INTRODUCTION

Chapter 4 identifies the costs incurred by women that have an impact on their economic security. These costs are related to women’s basic living necessities and caregiving responsibilities.

The costs women incurred varied depending on the types of services, programs and infrastructures that were available or accessible to different groups of women. These costs impacted certain women more so than others, particularly senior women, immigrant women, Aboriginal women, women with disabilities, women living in rural areas and women who are single-parents.

The challenges women faced in attempting to secure economic security fell into two broad areas. Witnesses pointed out that vulnerable women faced difficulties obtaining basic living necessities such as food, decent housing, transportation, health care services and medication. Witnesses also identified the need for maximizing the choices women had available to them in addressing women’s child care and elderly care responsibilities.

Several witnesses suggested to the Committee that flexible and comprehensive solutions need to be incorporated to address the cost side of women’s economic security. Sue Calhoun from the Canadian Federation of Business and Professional Women’s Clubs emphasized the inter-connected nature of women’s lives noting that women’s economic security “will not be resolved unless you take a holistic approach and look at all the things that impact on what women in the workforce are able to make today.”[72]

Lorraine Desjardins from the Fédération des associations de familles monoparentales et recomposées du Québec recommended that the Committee look at the cost side of economic security as a societal investment:

We must make societal choices and invest. Instead of viewing social programs as expenses, they should instead be viewed as investments. In education, for example, if we enable a woman head of a single-parent family to earn a diploma, she will get a job that will provide her with a decent salary and she will ultimately pay taxes.[73]

4.1 BASIC LIVING NECESSITIES

Accessing and being able to afford basic living necessities was a recurrent theme voiced by witnesses. Anuradha Bose from the National Organization of Immigrant and Visible Minority Women informed the Committee that immigrant families deplete their life savings when they immigrate to Canada in order to pay for basic living expenses. “Shortly after landing, they join the ranks of the working poor, with little hope of escape within a decade.”[74] In a similar vein, Colleen Purdon from the Rural Women Take Action on Poverty Committee emphasized lack of access to basic needs.

social assistance, government pensions, and minimum wage jobs do not cover basic needs for food, housing, heat, transportation, and health care in rural communities. Women and children can be left destitute or dependent on family or charitable supports to cover their basic needs.[75]

Witnesses also emphasized that the cost of living was higher in remote and rural areas than in urban areas. The Pauktuutit Inuit Women of Canada estimated that the cost of living can be “40% to 100% higher than in southern Canada”.[76]

4.1.1 Food Costs

Food costs were one of the basic living necessities that witnesses cited as impacting women’s economic security. Witnesses pointed to the exorbitant food costs that women experienced in the North. “[I]n Pond Inlet, Nunavut, one litre of orange juice sold for $22, and Ocean Spray cranberry cocktail was selling for $42.”[77] Jennifer Dickson of the Pauktuutit Inuit Women of Canada informed the Committee that “[q]uality food can be very expensive” whereas “[j]unk food is cheaper because it is often lighter and less expensive to ship.”[78] She also pointed out that high food costs “contribute to a poor diet, which in turn contributes to heart disease, diabetes, and tooth decay.”[79]

Not only do women in remote areas incur high food costs, women living in rural communities also faced difficulties addressing their food requirements.

That economic security is a growing problem in rural Canada is brought home by a report by the Canadian Association of Food Banks in 2003, which pointed out the irony of increasing numbers of people living in Canada’s food producing regions, and even food producers themselves needing to access food banks.[80]

4.1.2. Housing Costs

The Committee heard from several witnesses about housing insecurities such as rental costs, overcrowded dwellings, the need for safe and adequate housing.[81] Witnesses suggested that the economic security of Aboriginal and Inuit women, senior women and single parents would be greatly improved if they had access to affordable and decent housing.

Witnesses noted that according to the 2001 census, “nearly 40% of single-parent families headed by women were in a precarious situation with regard to housing.”[82] In Quebec, single parents spent “over 30% of their incomes on housing, particularly where they are headed by women”. [83] Robert Dobie from the National Advisory Council on Aging emphasized the need for affordable housing noting that “In 2001 almost 50% of all senior women renters living alone had core housing needs”.[84]

The National Council of Welfare underlined the need for affordable housing indicating that senior women faced the greatest risks to income insecurity.

If housing costs continue to spiral upwards, particularly in our major cities, this is going to affect seniors, particularly senior women. It’s very important that we have more affordable housing, and we don’t have enough right now.[85]

Witnesses discussed the poor housing conditions encountered by women from Inuit and Aboriginal communities. Beverly Jacobs from the Native Women’s Association pointed to the need for both “affordable housing and safe housing” as “priority issues” particularly for women living on reserve.[86] Jennifer Dickson from the Pauktuutit Inuit Women of Canada informed the Committee that “70% of houses in northern Quebec and about 55% of houses in Nunavut were considered extremely overcrowded.” She also noted that “one-quarter of all Inuit are living in dwellings that are in need of major repair”.[87]

In order to address these various housing issues, Ruth Rose, Adjunct Professor of Economics, Université du Québec à Montréal, suggested that there was a federal role in providing “leadership and direct funding in the area of housing”.

In the Scandinavian countries, rather than having welfare or social assistance programs, they have housing programs. That means that when people are working at low incomes they also get support and are less likely to need to go on social assistance.[88]

Recommendation 10:

The Committee recommends that the federal government, in collaboration with the provincial and territorial governments, develop a national housing strategy and ensure that there is adequate, affordable, appropriate and accessible housing for women.

4.1.3 Transportation Costs

Witnesses discussed transportation costs in terms of affordability and accessibility to public transportation. Women living in rural and remote areas did not have access to public transportation and depended on personal forms of transportation. In contrast, women with disabilities relied heavily on accessible transportation for both employment and basic necessities.

Karen Fyfe of the National Farmers Union explained to the Committee that rural women were “held hostage” because they depended on “friends and neighbours” for their transportation. Such a situation was particularly difficult for women who were in abusive relationships.

If you want to escape an abusive situation, you have to get on the phone in the strictest confidence and ask to be picked up and taken to the women’s shelter or to the hospital.[89]

This was further reinforced by Colleen Purdon from the Rural Women Take Action on Poverty Committee who pointed out that some women could not “access services, supports or employment” because “there is no public transportation”.[90] Even if women owned their means of transportation, other costs had to also be considered such as gas, insurance, and vehicle repairs.

For women with disabilities, “Affordable transportation is necessary, absolutely crucial, if people are going to get to work”.[91] Carmela Hutchinson from the DisAbled Women’s Network of Canada noted that there was a need for “dedicated funding” for disabled transit.

4.1.4 Health Care and Medical Costs

The Committee heard from various witnesses about women’s health care and medical costs. Witnesses suggested that the Canadian health care system needed to be “strengthened” so as to cover other costs such as “vision and dental care, prescription drugs, and home care”.[92] Carmela Hutchinson from the DisAbled Women’s Network of Canada informed the Committee that people with disabilities lose access to medication and to home care because “those supports […] are linked to income”.[93]

Witnesses representing senior women noted that the current health care system did not adequately address preventative healthcare that seniors needed such as physiotherapy and podiatry.[94] They also emphasized that a national pharmacare program for the elderly could help. [95] Alice West from the Women Elders in Action poignantly described how senior women are forced to make a choice between spending on groceries and spending on medication. She noted: “That’s not a situation we want to continue.”[96]

4.2 MAXIMIZING WOMEN’S CHOICES FOR CHILDCARE AND ELDERCARE SERVICES AND SUPPORT

Women’s caregiving responsibilities affect their labour force participation and their economic security.

Research has shown that working women are just as likely to become caregivers as their non-working counterparts, although working women who take on caregiving tasks may reduce their work hours.[97]

As Deborah Tunis from the Department of Social Development remarked, “women aged 25 to 44 who were not in the labour force in 2005 cited family responsibilities as a key factor in their absence from the labour force.”[98] The Committee also heard that “[r]educed attachment to the labour market, costs of day care, and other child-related expenses can compete with other critical financial needs, including saving for retirement.”[99] Furthermore, “women traditionally play the predominant role in caregiving for the elderly.”[100] Such caregiving responsibilities also impact women living in rural communities.

Because of the “economic consequences” [101] of caregiving that women incur, it is important to consider women’s economic security in terms of maximizing opportunities for women to make choices related to childcare and eldercare services and support. Both Beverley Smith, a long-time researcher and activist promoting equality for unpaid caregiving roles for men and women, and Monica Lysack from the Child Care Advocacy Association of Canada emphasized that women needed to be able to make these choices and to have such choices made available to them.[102]

4.2.1 Childcare

The need for an accessible and affordable system of childcare was a recurrent theme in many of the testimonies that the Committee heard. Witnesses emphasized that such a system was “an essential component to women’s ongoing economic security”.[103] They also noted that “child care alone was not sufficient to maintain labour force attachment.” Campaign 2000 suggested that additional supports were needed, particularly for women who were single parents, such as “supportive work environments, affordable housing, accessible transportation and recreation, and a supportive network of family and friends”.[104]

Witnesses identified that “good quality, flexible child care” was a “critical need in rural Canada”.

Child care is a critical economic development issue for present and future generations, and a necessity for women who want to increase their education or earn a wage.[105]

Rural women pointed out that there were insufficient childcare spaces that addressed the child care needs of rural parents.

In one of the most economically vibrant rural regions in Saskatchewan, there was only one licensed day care centre and one licensed day care home, which provided child care spaces for fewer than 1 in 50 of the children aged zero to twelve. So there's obviously a critical need for child care options in this rural region.[106]

Witnesses noted that there was a need for funding licensed facilities and pointed out that the provision of childcare subsidies and vouchers did not address rural women’s needs.

Funding for child care based on small subsidies and vouchers will not result in the provision of licensed child care options in rural Canada, so program funding needs to receive priority as new licensed facilities that offer quality child care are needed desperately.[107]

The Committee heard from several witnesses that the current childcare subsidies were insufficient:

… people would love to have $100 in their pocket, but if you don't have a child care space, if you don't have facilities, if you don't have places for children, then it's of no benefit.[108] (francais).

There is still a problem accessing child care. I don't believe an additional $100 a month solves the problem. There may need to be more spots created so there's not as long a waiting list. There may need to be more of an allowance given.[109]

[Y]ou can't put a child in day care for $100 a month. So if you use that on economics of scale, a woman goes out to work and — let's just keep it simple — she makes $12 an hour, but she puts her child in day care, and that's costing her $7 an hour. So her net return is only $5, because day care is no longer affordable.[110]

Sheila Konanur with the AWIC Community and Social Services informed the Committee that “a national childcare strategy that takes into consideration the unique needs of immigrant women” was needed.

The absence of a national child care strategy and the lack of affordable child care has its greatest impact on low- to middle-income families and affects female labour market participation.[111]

Witnesses pointed to the need for a childcare system so as to assist women in balancing their work and family responsibilities. Louise Nesterenko, Fellow Certified General Accountant, suggested that the federal government needed to consider establishing a childcare system because women in the future will be making a significant contribution to the Canadian economy:

What’s going to happen is, if you look at us aging baby boomers, we’re going to leave the market, so that means down the road, let’s say in 2030, only four women are going to be in my sector. So, what you have to deal with, as a government, you are going to have stress and pressure on our young. How are they going to sustain our economy? We need to look at that sooner than later, which is affordable daycare. We need to provide or find spaces.[112]

Recommendation 11:

The Committee recommends that the federal government support the efforts of the provinces and territories to implement or maintain a universal and high quality system of early learning and child care that is that is developmental, affordable and accessible.

4.2.2 Elderly Care

The Committee heard from several witnesses who described women’s caregiving responsibilities to the elderly. Virginia Poter from the Department of Human Resources and Social Development informed the Committee that “About one million Canadian seniors receive formal and informal care for long-term physical needs.”

This care is usually provided by women. These caregiving challenges are most acute for women with little or no family support network.[113]

Associated with these caregiving responsibilities are other costs women incur such as transportation, medication, and equipment and homemaking supplies.

[T]he best estimates are that between 40% and 50% of women caregivers make out-of-pocket expenditures that they would not have made otherwise if they hadn’t taken on care responsibilities. The main items on which they spend this money include transportation, prescription and non-prescription medications and medical supplies, and equipment and homemaking supplies. According to one survey, almost one-quarter spent $300 or more per month on these extra items.[114]

Colin Lindsay from Statistics Canada noted that in the future, women will carry a heavier burden for caring for the elderly.

As at least several of the other speakers said, the issue of social support for the very oldest segments of Canadian society is going to be a kind of double-barrelled burden for the overall female population. On the one hand, female seniors will make up the substantial majority of those needing such support in the future; at the same time, if history is any guide, it will largely fall to their daughters to provide that kind of support.[115]

In order to address women’s caregiving responsibilities and to maximize the choices available to both caregivers and elderly women, it was suggested that the current community care access framework be expanded so that women are not left with institutionalized care as their only solution.

We need to support the choice not to be institutionalized. In most situations, in the situation you talked about, there is no choice. It’s not “Shall I go to the institution or shall I stay home?” It’s “Shall I go to the institution or stay home without anything?” We have the idea that you’re either independent or you’re institutionalized. What I’m saying is that there’s a bridge, and the bridge is community support. [116]

The Committee received a number of suggestions about how the federal government could improve supports to help balance paid and unpaid work and recognize the value of unpaid work. Janet Fast[117] suggested that some of the existing government measures could be strengthened, noting that the caregiver tax credit and the compassionate care benefits program should be revisited in terms of their comprehensiveness, inclusiveness and level of benefit provided.

Recommendation 12:

The Committee recommends that the Department of Human Resources and Social Development Canada improve the Compassionate Care Benefits under the Employment Insurance program, by increasing the maximum number of weeks and by amending the eligibility criteria to make the benefit more widely available to persons caring for sick or elderly relatives or friends.