Thank you.
Maybe I'll start with a concrete example, since I alluded to that. I would like to show you my other slide show, which I've submitted to the clerk.
I mentioned the issue of qualifying and duration of regular benefits among industrial groups in which women predominate. Maybe I'll just start with that and then mention a few recommendations. I, like my counterpart, thought it would be a nice idea to be able to provide an example of a typical woman worker in the kind of situation I described.
The service sector is a common sector of employment for women. The average service sector worker works for 29 hours per week. Average hours in grocery stores are even lower, at 25 hours per week. In February 2009, workers in regions with 7% to 8% unemployment--Toronto, Montreal--needed 630 hours to qualify for a minimum claim of 17 weeks.
A service sector worker with 29 hours a week therefore needed 22 weeks of work prior to a layoff to meet the 630-hour requirement. It is even harder for a grocery sector worker. This worker needed 26 weeks of work prior to a layoff to obtain weekly hours over the 630 minimum.
Both of these workers would have needed only 18 weeks of work prior to a layoff to qualify for a minimum UI claim in the weeks system. If we look at the issue of duration, workers in a similar region with 7% to 8% unemployment who have at least 630 hours of insured earnings before a layoff would normally be eligible for 17 to 40 weeks of EI benefits, depending upon their insured hours. Until September 11, 2010, all claimants are eligible for this extra five weeks.
But if we take the case of a grocery store worker again, a grocery store worker in this region with an average of 25 hours a week and steady work for a full 52 weeks before the layoff--so 1,300 insured hours--is eligible for a maximum of 31 weeks of benefits until September 2010, and after that the duration declines to 26 weeks. This worker would have been eligible for up to 40 weeks under the pre-existing weeks system.
Given the relationship between hours worked in the qualifying period and duration of regular benefits, it's not surprising--this is the figure I showed in my presentation about exhaustion of EI benefits, and you have it in your package—that women exhaust their benefits more than men do.
I think it's really quite important to put a face to this. Many women in the labour market work in the service sector. I chose a grocery sector worker and looked at some of the numbers that Statistics Canada offers us on hours. I think that's quite important. That was one of the examples I would give.
If you would allow me to make a few more comments about recommendations—