I just have an answer to the comment that more men have lost their jobs in the current last few months in the recession. Most of the time period that the EI reform has been in place and that research has looked at has been a period of fairly stable or falling unemployment rates. But what I would say about more men losing their jobs is this. What we're concerned about is if a typical man—an auto worker, for example—who has been working full-time steadily for the last five years loses his job, he will qualify for employment insurance. That's in contrast to the more common work pattern for women, where they might have been working part-time, they might have had interrupted employment, they might have had casual work, fluctuating earnings. If they lose their job, they will be less covered, regardless of what the unemployment rate is.
On April 2nd, 2009. See this statement in context.