Thread by @AaronGenest

For #InternationalWomensDay, I got asked by @Siemens what I thought was the biggest thing we could do to improve the participation and experience of women in the workplace.

I said #childcare.

Flexible, affordable, accessible, quality childcare.

Women struggle in the workplace because of the real effects of raising a family in a society structurally-based on stay-at-home mothers AND the perception of employers who feel the need to 'manage the risk' that women will become pregnant.

academic.oup.com/occmed/article…

When I talked about supporting a woman who was struggling to work and manage her family responsibilities, I was inundated with messages from women who had been discriminated against for being pregnant or even looking like they might be considering it.

Heartbreaking.

Large corporations can support women reasonably well (although many do not) by ensuring that their careers are not paused, that they have flexible work hours, and even by creating childcare spaces at work places, but most employers don't have capacity without government support.

What does good childcare look like?

Affordable.
Flexible.
Accessible.
Quality.

Affordable childcare recognizes that it must cost significantly less to put a child into care -- or several -- than a woman is able to make at minimum wage. Otherwise, the brutal calculus of economics will force women to stay home.

As they do now.

Flexible childcare recognizes that not all people work 9-5. And that support for after and pre-school care is important, including transporting kids between facilities. It is available for part time, for different days of the week, on the weekend...

It's flexible.

Accessible childcare means that parents can get there and back easily, close to the home or close to the workplace. That in an emergency, parents can arrive quickly. That it's available the first day that a parent works post-leave. That it doesn't disappear if a caregiver is ill.

Quality means all of the above, but also that the caregivers are professional and valued. That caregiving in early childhood development is a career, not a side-gig. That daycares and homes are well-funded, safe, and that children are fed well, educated, and loved.

(To get there, we need to have an international conversation about paying childcare workers enough that the job is valued, and that workers can thrive, even in high-cost locations.)

I asked @Siemens to help me with the conversation in #canada about a #nationalchildcareplan for #InternationalWomensDay and beyond. Because we can be and should be at the front of this conversation.

They said yes. 😉

#cdnpoli

Also, messages that talked about supportive workplaces. So we know it’s possible.