Women are leaving work and taking up the burden of care during pandemic, benefit data suggests

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Mothers in provinces heavily hit by school closures during the pandemic appear to be stepping away from their careers to provide childcare and homeschooling at a disproportionate rate, government data tied to the Canada Recovery Caregiving Benefit (CRCB) suggests.

Women are applying for the federal benefit in greater numbers than men in all provinces, but the gaps are significantly higher in Ontario and Alberta, two of the provinces hardest hit by the pandemic. In those provinces, twice as many women as men have applied, whereas in Quebec and Manitoba, for example, women make up just 56 per cent of applicants.

“Schools are completely unreliable right now, and there are lots of parents in both provinces that because schools are open and then they’re shut and then they’re open again, more women have had to take care of kids at home as unpaid providers of remote schooling and childcare, even if their preference would have been to continue to work,” said Armine Yalnizyan, an economist and member of the federal government’s task force on women in the economy.

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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.

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.

Launched 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.

Most people who apply for the CRCB are adults in typical childbearing years: 60 per cent are between the ages of 25 and 45.

“They are not able to do three jobs: a paid job, as well as unpaid remote schooling and unpaid childcare,” Yalnizyan said.

They are not able to do three jobs: a paid job, as well as unpaid remote schooling and unpaid childcare

Armine Yalnizyan

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.

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.

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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.

“You can’t make plans when the provincial government waits until the night before to tell you whether schools will be shut down,” 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.

“That’s why people are taking leaves. If you’re 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?”

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.

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 — which are tied to compensation — that fail to account for challenges wrought by the pandemic.