Thank you.
Good morning. My name is Allyson Schmidt. I'm the financial empowerment coach for Credit Counselling Service of Sault Ste. Marie and District.
I'd like to express my appreciation to Terry Sheehan for inviting me to this committee to speak. I'm honoured and humbled to address this committee from my personal lived experience of precarious employment as a worker here in Canada.
This is a really big issue, and I appreciate that it's brought to the attention of the government in order to develop a definition of “precarious employment” and identify its impact on the lives of Canadians across the country. From personal experience I can tell this committee that it places an unfair burden on workers. It generates stress and creates many barriers to personal, financial and professional health, achievement and success.
Imagine going into work day after day and not being able to settle into your work knowing that you must be continuously searching for another job, planning your days to accommodate the juggling of multiple contracts, not taking on work in your field because it's only a short-term contract and you're not getting experience in your field that could benefit you later on. Then, on top of that, you have to try to balance child care, family life and the paying of bills. This is the daily reality of knowing that your contract is going to end soon, even while you're working full time.
I have worked five contracts at once as a single parent to a child with disabilities. The year I was doing that, I made less than $25,000.
The work that I have done includes university-level teaching and research, work in social services and work as a registered health care worker. I have been precariously employed my entire working career in Canada. I am an educated, experienced and capable woman with a lot to offer employers and my community. The under-employment I experienced has caused me to struggle with anxiety and depression and has affected my self-esteem.
From speaking with other women I know who are precariously employed, I can say the toll it takes on one's self-image and self-esteem is large. There is the stress of constantly applying for contracts and the stress of never feeling good enough or qualified enough. This comes from other women as well who have years of experience, high levels of education and various professional certifications.
The nature of precarious employment has meant that saving money has been next to impossible for the past 10 years. Not being able to save money means I'm not able to, for example, purchase a home. My being left out of the homebuyer market means that I am left paying more than the recommended 30% of my income on my housing costs to have appropriate housing for me and my children. For many Canadians, having a home leads to greater financial security and stability, and really, this is something I feel I can only dream of having.
As a single mother, I have to take into account my children's appointments, their sick days and other various activities to try to be a good parent. Finding a job that works around my children has been key to my success, but I know many single working mothers who are not that fortunate. Taking days off can truly put your job in jeopardy, further adding to the burden of stress and difficulty of planning life from paycheque to paycheque.
The reality of precarious employment makes financial planning very difficult. There have been times when I was out of work between contracts and have had to make do using credit. From my current work, I can see what happens when people are floating their lives on credit. It's very expensive and has dire consequences for your present and your future.
I see many people who are floating their lives on credit and non-banking financial services, which puts people at really great risk. The cycle of precarious employment puts people in financial trouble and puts hard-working Canadians even further behind than where they are.
As a member of generation X, I have been living the reality of precarious employment my entire working career. I grew up the daughter of a steelworker who saw the collapse of steel in the early 1980s and 1990s, but I still saw my parents able to own homes, take vacations and sick days and have medical benefits.
The burden on me now and on many others like me is that I have to pay out of pocket for medications and dental health, essential components for my ability to work and bring money into my home. I am not contributing to any retirement or pension plans other than the modest amounts that I am able to put aside from my household budget.
There are many things that I see other workers enjoying that I know I and other workers like me would give anything for.
Being precariously employed doesn't just affect me financially. It affects my health, my mental health, my self-esteem and my relationships with my children and my community. It affects me now and puts my future in jeopardy. It is my hope that the committee is able to develop a working definition that can actually be implemented into policies that can materially improve the nature of work in Canada to support workers and women like myself.
Thank you very much for your time and for inviting me to share my experience here today.