Thank you, Madam Chair.
Welcome. We have decided to devote part of this sitting to the study of the economic security of women. We have heard from many witnesses who described the type of situation women face in today's society. The effects of poverty are often greater for women than for men. Senior women who live alone are more likely to have a lower income: 17% of them earn less than the low income cut-off. Thirty-six per cent of the heads of single parent household, most of them women, are low-wage earners. As single parents, they are in a more precarious situation than are most senior women. Women must often take part-time, unstable employment in order to reconcile work and family life.
That is just a general outline. Do you not think that we should develop some type of a national strategy that would take into account the roots of poverty as well as family responsibilities? Such a strategy would also address the choices that women must face when they have to decide whether or not to seek paid employment because they are likely to outlive their husband and could find themselves alone and possibly poor. Then there are the informal caregivers. They are often women who must take care of a parent. At least that is what most of the witnesses who appeared before this committee have told us.
Perhaps the government already realizes that a broader strategy would be preferable to having small ad hoc policies which are not terribly effective.