Thank you.
CFUW believes unpaid work must be quantified and valued. CFUW has supported measures to quantify the value of unpaid work to the economy and to take account of this contribution to economic productivity in policy decisions.
However, the removal of question 33 in the 2006 census, which is about unpaid work, is a step backwards. Using census data, it has been calculated that women do two-thirds of unpaid work, accounting for around 30% to 45% of Canada's gross domestic product. This contribution is significant, and with unpaid work including care work involving children and elders, this is an important figure to monitor.
Given the aging population and no current commitments for increased numbers of child care spaces, women will continue to take on the majority of care work in this country. Elder care in particular has been shown to have negative effects on the financial health of women and also on the mental and physical health of women. Without information on this issue, we will not be able to understand the effects and consequences of unpaid work on women.
The removal of the question on unpaid work creates a barrier to the ability to monitor and to value the contribution of unpaid voluntary and care work. CFUW proposes that the Standing Committee on the Status of Women recommend the reinstatement of the mandatory long-form census and the inclusion of the question on unpaid work for the 2011 census.
These changes, if not reversed, will have a detrimental effect on the capacity of governments at all levels and of civil society to respond to and track changes to women's lives as they relate to policy decisions. As a result of these changes, we will no longer be able to compare census data to past years' results, making comparison and tracking of both progress and regression futile.
To improve the information available on time use, CFUW recommends that the following be included in the 2011 census: questions on unpaid work; questions on care of the disabled; and the expansion of the numbers on elder care that can be reported in census questions. To respond and adapt to the changes in demographics and women's lives, we must have the information to do so. If we cannot trust or compare this information, working towards women's equality will be a difficult pursuit.
As an equality-seeking organization, CFUW encourages the government to reverse this decision, on the basis that the impacts on gender are too great to ignore. As inequality persists, we must continue to have information to understand how to overcome it. Without the statistics that tell the story, we will have nothing except unreported and unaddressed inequality.
Thank you.