We have previously raised concerns in letters to you, in Committee and in technical briefings about the financial difficulty faced by new parents who have fallen through the gaps between both EI maternity/parental leave and the CERB. We are still hearing from new parents about the many reasons that they struggle to meet their basic needs in this pandemic:
OPEN LETTER to Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Finance and Minister of Employment on continued support for new mothers, new parents and infants
"June 18, 2020
Hon. Chrystia Freeland, Chair
Cabinet Committee on the federal response to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19)
Hon. Bill Morneau Minister of Finance
Hon. Carla Qualtrough
Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion
Dear Ministers,
OPEN LETTER RE: CONTINUED SUPPORT FOR NEW MOTHERS, NEW PARENTS & INFANTS IN COVID-19
We write you today in order to raise our constituents’ growing concerns about how they will continue supporting their families through this pandemic and into the post-pandemic period, and in particular the circumstances faced by new mothers and parents of young infants.
We have previously raised concerns in letters to you, in Committee and in technical briefings about the financial difficulty faced by new parents who have fallen through the gaps between both EI maternity/parental leave and the CERB. We are still hearing from new parents about the many reasons that they struggle to meet their basic needs in this pandemic:
children. Licensed affordable child care was extremely difficult to secure even before the pandemic; now, with many licensed child care providers rightly prioritizing essential workers, operating at 50% capacity, and only accepting babies over 18 or 22 months, the search for child care went from difficult to impossible for many new parents.
Data that is now emerging about the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic prove that the economic impacts are being borne even more heavily by women. Six out of every ten jobs lost in the pandemic were held by women. COVID-19 related job losses have been amplified for people who work in lower- wage jobs, and that the impact has been even greater on women than on men. New info from Statistics Canada indicates that eight in ten Canadian payroll employees who lost their jobs were paid hourly and the number of hours worked fell to 29.5 hours, the lowest on record. Young people have also been disproportionately affected – in BC, the unemployment rate for youth 15-24 is over 28%, or more than one in four. Anecdotes and some studies suggest that people who are racialized have also borne heavier impacts, but so far the federal government has not heeded the NDP’s calls to require that data on this be collected across all ministries. Those whose incomes are lowest, whose work is most precarious, who have the fewest resources and the least capacity to save up earnings are the most heavily impacted.
As public health officials lift some restrictions on activity, it is crucial that we ensure that young children and their families are not put at health, social and economic disadvantage. For parents going back to work, they need to know that their children will be safe and cared for. For parents who are still home with new babies, they need to know that the income support will be there. The temporary increase to the Canada Child Benefit was welcomed by many but in no way does it adequately replace the loss of employment income, maternity benefits or spousal or child support.
Providing an adequate maternity income, such as by extending the CERB criteria to be a truly universal direct payment, or extending maternity and parental leave to all new parents regardless of whether they qualify for EI would make all the difference for families who struggle to make ends meet; and, it would be an excellent public health measure as it would lessen the strain on crowded daycares, enhance maternal mental health, child health, and lessen the divide between single mothers and two-parent families. We include as an enclosure to this letter links to two petitions that call on the government to put in place measures to extend maternity and parental supports in this pandemic, and they have garnered many thousands of signatures.
At the outset of the pandemic, many in our communities called on government and institutions to engage in “care-mongering” efforts to ensure that people in were not made more vulnerable or isolated by the pandemic and benefitted from mutual aid. We cannot think of any more “care-mongering” act that your government could take on at this time than to ensure financial stability and security for families of very young children. Ensuring continued stability for families at this time will have an incalculable benefit.
Thank you for your consideration and we will look forward to reply at your earliest convenience, Sincerely,
Daniel Blaikie
MP, Elmwood-Transcona
Critic for Employment, Workforce Development
Jenny Kwan
MP, Vancouver East
Lindsay Mathyssen
MP for London—Fanshawe
Critic for Diversity and Inclusion and Youth, Women and Gender Equality
Cc: The Hon. Maryam Monsef
Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Rural Economic Development"