FROM POLICY TO PROGRESS: ASSESSING GENDER EQUITY IN CANADIAN EMPLOYMENT INSURANCE

Abstract

This paper delves into the gendered nature of social policy, highlighting how women's concerns are often marginalized within "familialized policies," which primarily focus on their traditional familial roles. Such policies perpetuate gender inequalities by segregating individual policies, predominantly aimed at men, from family-oriented policies, primarily targeting women. Consequently, this maintains the invisibility of unpaid social reproduction labor, reinforcing women's limited societal influence. Moreover, these policies fall prey to "the politics of needs interpretation," where powerful entities dictate and assume women's needs. Despite claims of gender-neutral needs assessment for policy formulation, underlying gender role ideologies and values remain unchallenged, solidifying gender-related biases. This study specifically examines Canada's Employment Policy's role in framing women as caregivers immune to protection from labor market fluctuations. The paper underscores the necessity of challenging normative assumptions to reshape welfare policies, address gender disparities, and improve the daily lives of women.