READ THE FULL REPORT HERE.
A comprehensive national report released today, Work and COVID-19: Priorities for supporting women and the economy, analyzes the impact COVID-19 has had on women in the labour market and recommends federal policy measures to address the crisis.
International Women’s Day began over 100 years ago with demands for fair wages, better working conditions and dignity. While some progress has been made, it remains that women, racialized women, women with disabilities, young women and older women’s status are lesser than their male counterparts. In the time of COVID, IWD is a time to put attention on how women have borne the brunt of the economic and social impacts of COVID and how governments should respond.
As the Manitoba office of the CCPA, we prepared the following policy brief on the particular impacts of COVID on women in Manitoba and what is needed from the Province of Manitoba to reverse the disproportionate damage COVID has had on women in our province.
This policy brief describes some of the ways Manitoba women have borne the brunt of COVID. Manitoba women lost the second highest percentage of jobs of any province. Manitoba women lost jobs were lost in areas hard hit by COVID: retail, services and accomodations and also in social services and health. Manitoba women’s unemployment rate is 7.1% compared to men’s at 5.1%. Women working part time, racialized and women earning less than $17/ hour were hardest hit.
The brief describes what’s needed for a feminist recovery – where women, Two Spirit and gender-diverse people are prioritized and not left behind. It is focused on three areas:
- Social infrastructure and the care economy
- Living wage, paid sick leave and EI reform
- Help those excluded pre-COVID
The feminist recovery must be intersectional. We must act on the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls and Truth and Reconciliation Calls to Action and act on ending racism against Black Indigenous and People of Colour. Women with disabilities face enormous barriers and challenges: The Accessibility for Manitobans Act must be fully implemented.
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