Image Credit: CFJC Today / File

By David Charbonneau

Eyeview

CHARBONNEAU – The caring sector will lift the economy in the New Year

Dec 31, 2020 | 4:44 PM

This pandemic recession has been like no other.

In past recessions, it’s been men who have been laid off and women who lead the recovery by returning to work.

Now it’s women who have been laid off and their jobs may never return.

What jobs will replace the ones lost?

In past recessions, the job losses for men have been predominately in the manufacturing, resource-extraction and construction sectors. Job losses in the service economy were affected less.

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The pattern is characteristic of past recessions. When men lost their jobs, women stepped up to keep families afloat. Armine Yalnizyan, economist for the Canadian Centre of Policy Alternatives, calls these “he-cessions” followed by “she-coveries” as women increase their participation in the workforce to support household incomes.

In those “she-coveries,” women provided “within-family insurance.” Women were potential salaried workers, ready to step in and to fill the gap when men lost their jobs.

Of course women haven’t been sitting around, waiting to spring into action when hubbie is laid off. Just ask any woman about the unpaid work they do. It amounts to US$10.8 trillion globally each year.

Many women work in the service sector. That sector is huge –it represents two-thirds of Canada’s economy and employs 75 per cent of workers.

This pandemic recession hit the service sector hard, particularly in retail, personal services, childcare and hospitality.

In these sectors, 56 per cent of workers are women compared to 17 per cent men. Two-thirds of job losses fell to women. As the economy reopens, women’s jobs are coming back at less than half the rate of men’s (Sarah Kaplan, Corporate Knights, Fall, 2020 issue.)

In this pandemic recession, so far, it’s been a “she-cession” with not enough jobs for a “he-covery.” Jobs in the manufacturing, resource-extraction and construction industries are few compared to the service sector.

The caring sector of the service economy can lead us out of the pandemic recession, particularly in child care.

The usual argument against child care investment is that it’s too expensive. But compare the investment of one per cent of GDP in construction versus the same investment in childcare: childcare investment would create almost three times the jobs as construction according to the U.K. Women’s Budget Group.

The reason childcare provides a greater return on investment is because more people are employed –in the construction of the daycare centres, the workers in daycare, and more mothers returning to work.

Quebec’s low-fee childcare program is an example. It has led to a two per cent increase in total employment. For every $100 spent by the government, the province experienced returns of $104. For the federal government, the return would be $143.

But why, you might ask, should a woman be paid for childcare when she traditionally does it for free? Women’s unpaid work has been characterized as altruistic. In other words, women should work for free because it’s their duty to do so.

The post-pandemic phase is a perfect time to change that attitude. It’s about time that work in the caring economy has recognized value.

Next year, growth in the caring economy can again be characterized as a “she-covery.”