Motherhood and Unemployment: Intersectional Experiences from Canada
Keywords:
Motherhood, Labour, UnemploymentAbstract
Motherhood is central to women’s lived experiences. It affects women’s ability to integrate into the labour market, particularly the primary labour market, which has more secure and better-paying jobs. The Canadian government’s employment and childcare policies assume that women can actively choose when to enter the labour market. But women do not have free choice regarding either social reproduction or wage work. The insufficient federal childcare program (Little, 2004; Mikkonen & Raphael, 2010) along with work interruptions and job choices linked to childcare (Krahn, Lowe, & Huges, 2008) are barriers that push women toward precarious employment in the secondary labour market of low-paid, part-time, and temporary jobs. These policies leave few choices for women; only women in upper socioeconomic strata have adequate resources and choices related to their employment (Little, 2004). Employment challenges are compounded for women who have intersecting identities pertaining to factors like gender, motherhood, marital status, socioeconomic status, age, race, and immigrant status. This qualitative study uses an intersectional approach to explore the lived experiences of 26 unemployed women from diverse backgrounds in two Canadian cities and the challenges they face. The study found that neoliberal policies have resulted in a lack of support for unemployed women with respect to Employment Insurance, health care, childcare, job training, and the labour market, leading to employment precarity and consequently inferior living conditions and jeopardized health, with a greater impact on mothers and women with specific intersecting identities. This paper proposes policy modifications to improve the situation of unemployed mothers.
Résumé
La maternité joue un rôle important dans la vie de beaucoup de femmes. Elle peut avoir un impact important sur l’intégration du marché du travail , particulièrement le marché du travail principal, qui donne accès à des emplois mieux rémunérés et ayant une plus grande sécurité d’emploi. Les politiques de l’emploi et de la garde des enfants du gouvernement canadien présupposent que les femmes peuvent choisir quand elles intègrent le marché du travail. Cependant, le programme de garde des enfants fédéral inadéquat (Little, 2004; Mikkonen & Raphael, 2010), ainsi que les interruptions de travail, et les choix d’emploi reliés à la garde des enfants (Krahn, Lowe, & Huges, 2008), demeurent des obstacles qui poussent les femmes vers des emplois précaires offerts dans le secteur secondaire d’emploi : emplois temporaires, à temps partiel et à faible rémunération. Ces politiques donnent donc moins de choix pour beaucoup de femmes; seules les femmes appartenant à la strate socioéconomique élevée se trouvent avoir des ressources adéquates et des choix reliés à leur emploi (Little, 2004). Les enjeux reliés à l’emploi se trouvent être exacerbés pour les femmes qui, de plus, ont des identités multiples relatives au genre, à la maternité, à l’état civil, au statu socioéconomique, à l’âge, à la race, et au statu d’immigrante reçue. Cette étude qualitative utilise une approche intersectionelle pour explorer les expériences vécues de 26 femmes de diverses origines et sans emploi, dans deux villes canadiennes, afin de mettre en évidence les obstacles auxquels elles font face. Nous concluons que les politiques néolibérales ont eues comme résultat un manque de support pour les femmes sans emploi en ce qui a trait à l’assurance emploi, à la santé, à la garde des enfants, à la formation professionnelle, et au marché de travail. Ceci a mené àla précarité d’emploi, et par conséquence, à des conditions de vies inferieures et une santé compromis pour ces femmes. Le plus grand impact se trouve être pour les femmes ayant des identités multiples. Cet article suggère et défend des modifications aux politiques existantes afin d’améliorer la situation des mères sans emploi.
Mots-clefs : maternité; travail; chômage
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