As an organization, we have been long saying that early intervention and enhanced learning opportunities at early ages are keys to long-term prosperity and social cohesion for all Canadians. In that regard, programs and services that strengthen families are the targets we attempt to advocate for.
We think it's important to take a very, very close look at what we are doing in Canada with respect to child care. We would argue that the reinstatement of the funding agreements reached with the provinces and territories to establish 100,000 more child care spaces is a laudable goal. It should be a target for any government.
We have major concerns with respect to the funding of first nation child welfare agencies. We would recommend strongly that they be funded so they can deliver community-based in-home support and prevention services to their clientele.
We are now entering an era where greater numbers of immigrant and refugee children are entering our schools. The demographics of the country would lead us to conclude that this is not a short-term phenomenon but one that we will be facing for many years. Schools need assistance. Parents, teachers, and students need assistance, particularly in resources for English and French as second language school programs, but also including programs for teachers and parents that address cultural differences and language skills building.
We have long held that increased access to unemployment benefits for maternity, adoption, and parental benefits will have a significant impact on the economic security of women in their younger years. We would also like to see a greater degree of encouragement at the policy development level for the growth of top-up provisions in contracts of employment. When you lose that portion of income at the front end of a career, it impacts all those benefits that one would accrue along the way. That is why female teachers--even though the pay scales are the same as for male teachers--will have an average income that is below male teachers.
We are suggesting an increase in the drop-out provisions of the CPP/QPP for those who leave the labour force to raise children under the age of seven. We have reviewed recent studies that show that women still contribute much more time to household duties than men. In addition, they are more intensively engaged in elder care than are men. Sheri's comment about the sandwich generation was interesting. That's precisely where we are.
We believe that assistance for elder care is a significant component of the economic security for women, particularly in the 40- to 60-year age group. Increased access to family care leave benefits under the employment insurance program would help considerably in this regard, as would additional recognition for drop-out time under the CPP/QPP. If drop-out time is legitimate for addressing issues related to young children, it should be equally legitimate for addressing drop-out periods for elder care.
Senior widows outnumber senior widowers four to one. As measured by Stats Canada, many senior women slip into low income as a result of widowhood and stay there for a longer period of time than others. We believe changes can be made to the CPP to avoid that, or at least minimize it. One of them is that where a retired contributor to CPP/QPP dies and leaves a surviving spouse, the spouse should receive a survivor's benefit that is unaffected by any other benefit paid to the individual under CPP/QPP.
I will stop there, Chair, and look forward to questions or comments.