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1878 – Association
for the Advancement of Women in the US notes that the 1870 census there erred because to neglect the home economy assumes
that women’s work has no effect on the causes or increase of wealth
1872 – Married Women’s
Property Act – women for the first time had the right to their own money
1881 – Susan B. Anthony
argues that woman has been the great unpaid laborer of the world. She is frustrated by the ignorance and indifference of the
majority of women about their status and rights..
1884 – in Ontario a
married woman could now own property and sell it without consulting her husband.
1888 - in the US the Society for the Study of Child Nature was formed. It was believed that raising children
is not just a matter of supervision or of instinct but skills are required.
1883- Lillie Blake suggests
that women who rise early, cook, wash, clean, mend, do housework still face struggles when their husbands talk of supporting
the wives.
1882 – Toronto Labour
Council supports equal pay for equal work
1884 – Ontario Factory
Act – a maximum 60 hour work week is established for women and children
1885- Dominion Franchise
Act – No women could vote. Eligible voters had to be male and property owners. Later unmarried female property holders
won the right to vote. Married women with property did not get this right until 1888 (married women are a historically disadvantaged
group even among women)
1893- New Zealand granted
women the right to vote.
1893 – The National
Council of Women forms in Canada (NCWC) as a nonpartisan organization ultimately arguing for fairer taxes and in 1990 for
housework to be included in the census
1893 – Domestic science
was a public school course in 32 Canadian cities. McGill University offered a
degree of Bachelor of Household Science in 1918 (homemaking was viewed as a skill)
1895 – Amelia Bloomer
in “On Housekeeping- Woman’s Burdens” argues that the coking, washing and sewing be done cooperatively to
relive mothers of these burdens and to ‘give them time for self-improvement and the care and culture of their children”
1895 – Toronto school
board refuses to hire women over 30 or married women.
1896 – Harriet Beecher
Stowe in “The Minister’s Wooing” argues that woman is the spiritual overseer of the family and she should
be selfless
1896- Dr. Holt in “The
Care and Feeding of Infants’ says that raising children requires training and that instinct is not enough.
1897 – in the US the
National Congress of Mothers forms- mothers learn from experts how to parent. Mrs. Theodore Birney, president says that intelligent
parenthood is vital for the race and that’ to attain it is as well worth our effort and attention as the study of Greek,
Latin, higher mathematics, medicine, law or any other professions”
1897 – in the US the
National Congress of Parents and Teachers formed to improve education about parenting
1897 – Adelaide Hoodless
of the Women’s Institute, Canada argues that girls need an education in order to be good homemakers
1897 – in Ontario a
married woman for the first time can sign contracts whether or not she owns property
1898 – Charlotte Perkins
Gilman writes “Woman and Economy”. noting that the labor of
women i the home enables men to produce more wealth She feels that women are economic factors in society. Others however treat housewives as only consumers of goods, parasitic on society.
1898 – Elizabeth Cady
Stanton in “Eighty Years and More’ says that mother hood is the most important of all professions but not enough
attention is given to training women for it.
Karl Marx – argued
that women should be out of the home earning wages. He wanted mundane household chores to be socialized. When the birth rate dropped among the poor workers however, he added in 1900 an allowance for those who
had children in order to give them maternity leave)
1900-05 – in Canada
SC vs Mabel French- the court ruled that Ms. French could not become a barrister because as a woman she was not a person
1900 – In Canada unmarried
women may vote for school trustees in some provinces. (married women remained a historically disadvantaged group)
1900 – Married Women’s
Property Act – the wife is seen as jointly responsible with the husband for the support of children (the term ‘support’ may include services and child-rearing)
1901 – 70% of the paid
workforce in teaching, dressmaking, housekeeping, millinery and nursing is made up of women
1902 – Australia gives
women the vote
1905 – In England –
Christabel Pankhurst and Annie Kenney were arrested for unfurling a ‘Votes
for Women ‘banner and causing a disturbance. They accepted a prison sentence rather than paying a fine. Emmeline Pankhurst
mother of Christabel, joined with her daughter to form the Women’s Political and Social Union
1906 – Finland gave
women the vote
1907- Julia Ward Howe argued
that women deserve higher education and roles in public life and that women are especially gifted in helping others. She said
that raising children expands a woman’s potential for happiness
1907 – The Senate and
the House of Commons in Canada debate whether to allow women to participate in the national pension plan and Sir Richard Cartwright
argues for inclusion but does not win.
1907- Maria Montessori in
Rome organizes a small school for children who have been left unsupervised in a tenement.
She designs material to develop the senses, language, reading, writing.
1908- first pension legislation
in Canada – for families of soldiers injured or killed.
1910 – the first woman’s
pilot’s license is given out – to French Baroness de Laruche
1911 – Marion Crane
in “Women in Canada” argues that domesticity is work and that women
who do not get decent working conditions should have the right to leave and men or husband.
1911 – in the US a
Mother’s Pension was instituted for widowed women so they could still be home with their children. (Illinois recommends that children of parents of worthy character, suffering from temporary misfortune
and children of reasonable efficient and deserving mothers who are without support of the normal breadwinner..should be kept
with their parents, such aid being given as may be necessary to maintain suitable homes for the rearing of children ( the
state pays so mom can be home. In 2002 the state takes care of the kids and mom has to leave the home to earn money)
1911 – Alberta’s
Dower Act requires that on the death of her husband, a woman gets one third of his estate
1913 – violent clashes
in Britain between suffragettes and the law result in the death from a horse trampling of Emily Davison. Members of the Women’s
Social and Political Union in Britain shout, chain themselves to railings, smash windows of government buildings and stage
noisy protests. Some refuse to pay taxes or recognize court authority.
1913 – H. M. Swanwick
in “The Future of the Women’s Movement” says that women’s equality involves equal opportunities to
do the things women want to do and includes in this ‘their peculiarly feminine work, the work which men cannot do’.
For such work she argues for more help, more training and more expenditure of public money.
1913 – Rural Municipalities
in Canada allow women to vote but only men can hold office
1914 – organized labor
groups in Canada argue for equal pay for men and women because of the disturbing trend of some employers to not hire men because
women are cheaper
1914 – President Wilson
of the US proclaims the first Mother’s Day to honor the work done by all mothers. Anna Jarvis has argued for such a
recognition to bring families together after the Civil War.
1914 – Ellen Key in
“The Renaissance of Motherhood” says a professional paid caregiver is not as good as the natural mother who is
more attentive to the child’s development and who provides greater emotional support
1915- Nellie McClung in “In
Times Like These” argues that no home can e happy when the poor mother is too tired to smile. She argues for help with
chores so women can have the time and strength to raise their children. She notes’ We hear too much about the burden
of motherhood and too little of its benefits” (she addresses the distinction between housework and child-rearing responsibilities).
McClung also notes that many women are too self-effacing and do not claim their rights, saying “Women who set a low
value on themselves make life hard for all women” McClung argues for old
age pensions, mothers’ allowances and public health nursing with free medical and dental treatment in schools.
1915 – Theodora Youmans
of the Woman’s Suffrage Association of the US notes with anger government claims that women in the home don’t
work, saying ‘The assumption that women however hard they work in the household do not support themselves but are supported
by their husbands, that they earn nothing and own nothing – that assumption upon which all our property laws are based
is so abominable that I cannot find words to express my opinion of it”
1916- Manitoba passes the
Mothers’ Allowance Act – If a father is absent due to jail term, death, disability or insanity, the state provides
funding so the mother can still be home to raise the children. Saskatchewan, Alberta, BC and Ontario soon after pass similar
legislation
1916 – Marjory MacMurchy
in “The Woman Bless Her” says that in Canada also homemaking and raising children have economic and social value.
She notes “Although note yet recognized as occupations by the Census, the two most important women employments are homemaking
and the care of children’
1916 – Singe mothers
are given a small allowance in some Canadian provinces
as long as they were at one
time married and have more than one child
1917- a minimum wage law
was established for women in Alberta
1917 – In Saskatchewan
women with property could hold public office (rights to women were originally based on property, age, character and marital status. These conditions were only gradually withdrawn)
1917 – By the Wartime
Elections Act in Canada the vote was given to women who had close relatives in the armed services
1918 – Canada –
an income tax deduction is created for employees with dependent spouses (this is a shift from the assumption employers offer
a family wage. It also is gender neutral. However the term’ dependent’ suggests the unpaid spouse is not contributing
anything, even services)
1918 – British women
win the vote is they are over 30 and own property. 8 ½ million British women
are thereby eligible to vote, but few take advantage of the right at first.
1918 – Marie Stopes in Britain writes “Wise Parenthood” advocating birth control. Marie Sanger
in “Family Limitation” advocating birth control was charged with disseminating obscene literature.
1918 – women in Canada
(except in Quebec) get the right to vote
1918 –30 Many employers
in Canada paid an allowance to married but not single employees, instead of a general wage allowance. This fund helped pay
for family-related expenses. Later employers were required to pay into a fund that was used to help pay birth bonuses, nursing
allowances and family allowance.
1918- Canada – by the
Child Tax Exemption some costs of child-rearing were recognized, as was the social value of parenting
1919 – the British
National Bureau of Economic Research defines income in the market economy as requiring money to change hands but it does include
the value of the food produced in the home. (omission of unpaid labor . The principle that money must change hands continues
in 2002 in Canada where child care also is not valued unless money changes hands)
1919 – Britain –
by the Sex Disqualification(Removal) Act – women could now enter professions formerly for men only
1920 – in Canada a
mother’s allowance is established in many provinces but only for mothers in distress.
1920 – in the US by
the 19th Amendment, women got the right to vote
1920 – Dr. Augusta
Stowe Gullen in “Should Husbands Pay Their Wives Salaries?” writes that the homemaking work of a wife increases
a man’s earning capacity and that she is in effect his ‘business partner’. She lobbies government to declare
a wife an equal partner in a marriage, with a definite income. The National Council of Canada debates the issue.
1920 – in Alberta under
the Infants Act – for the first time mothers as well as fathers become joint and equal guardians of their children.
In Saskatchewan mothers are automatic guardians of children under age 14 and fathers are guardians of children over age 14)
1920 – Eleanor Raylor
warns that women’s movements that ignore mothers’ rights invite failure.
1921 – in BC- maternity
leave is granted, for 6 weeks.
1922- Alberta’s Married
Women’s Act for the first time gives a woman absolute independence in her own financial and legal dealings (this may
have been for unmarried women only)
1923 – Arnold Gesell
in “The Preschool Child” emphasizes early childhood as a pivotal time for education
1923 – By Canada’s
Bank Law the amount of money a married woman could deposit was raised to a maximum of $2,000.
1923 – UN passes a
5 part Declaration on the Rights of the Child
1923 – an amendment
to the constitution to give ‘equality of rights’ to women, the Equal Rights Amendment, is introduced but not passed.
It has been introduced in nearly every session of congress since, but by 2002 has still
not passed.
1925- Agnes MacPhail, Canadian
Member of Parliament states that women must be given economic freedom within the home.
(the mechanism of such recognition varies. Some argue for salaries for wives)
1926 – Jean Piaget
in “The Language and Thought of the Child” tracks development of intelligence through four main stages from zero
to 15 years
1926-30 New Zealadn has a
minimum salary to cover expenses of the earner supporting a family with two children. Extra bonuses are given for more than
two children.
1927- Canada passes a pension
act to assist provinces to give a pension to the elderly at age 70.
1928 – Dr. John Watson
in “Psychological Care of Infant and Child” argued that mothers may not be the best ones to raise their own children.
He questioned whether children should even know their parents and advocated instead a ‘scientific’ way of raising
children, “programming” the young to fit into the culture. He argued that parents should not hug or kiss their
chidren.
1929 – Five Canadian
Women (Emily Murphy, Louise McKinney, Nellie McClung, Irene Parlby and Henriette Muir Edwards) refuse to accept the Supreme
Court ruling against them and take their plea to the Privy Council in England which rules that women are persons and can take
roles in public life including in the Senate. The recognition of women as legal ‘persons’ became known as the Persons Case. (Edwards v. A. G. Canada)
1929 – Hildegard Kneeland
observed that letting women enter the paid professions with men did not solve the dilemma back home of assuming homemakers
were financially dependent,
1929 – in Canada a
committee is set up to study having a national Family Allowance
1930 – in France a
wage allowance is paid to encourage mothers to remain at home to care for their children. It is to recognize ‘la mere
au foyer”
1930 – in Canada married
women were for the first time allowed the right to control their own wages and not have to consult with their husbands
1930 – New Brunswick
allowed women to hold elected office.
1930- in the US the Social
Security Act Aid to Dependent Children provided a mother’s pension of sorts so war widows could still be with their
children
1938- the League of Nations
tallies numbers who are gainfully employed and ignores housework
1935 – the US passes
a Social Security Act to help families with dependent children
1933 –45 – in
the US nurseries are funded to encourage women to enter the paid work force during the depression
1938- public assistance to
the poor is given not in cash but in food and clothing and is provided on an emergency basis only, usually by private charities
and local municipalities.
1939- In three days in Britain
nearly a million children were moved from British towns and cities to safer rural locations. Some went with mothers and others
went alone. Those who provided accommodation for such children were paid an allowance per child. (rights for women, when granted
were also granted piecemeal- right to vote, to hold public office, to own property, to manage one’s own money, to be
legal guardians of children)
1939 – Child care centers
were set up to encourage women to join the paid labor force during the war. In the US women were encouraged to work in defense
plants. In Canada in 1942 the federal government passes an order in council to have cost sharing with the provinces to establish
such daycares.
1940’s Betty Friedan
observed that it was suddenly common to blame a mother’s influence for ‘every case history of the troubled child,
alcoholic , suicidal, schizophrenic, psychopathic, neurotic adult, impotent, homosexual male, frigid promiscuous female”
1940- John Bowly, British
psychiatrist argues that each child should have a warm and continuous relationship with a parent or parent-substitute in order
to have mental health
1940 – Harriot Stanton
Blatch in “Challenging Years” argues that motherhood but be given an endowment “Setting her free will repay
the world”
1940 – Unemployment
Insurance act in Canada keeps benefits at 50% of the lowest paying job in order
to encourage recipients to re-enter paid work soon. This proves however to be a hazard to health of recipients who are in
long-term need. (the amount is raised in 1971 to 2/3 of wage)
1940 – Unemployment
Insurance Act clarifies division of powers so that the provinces are responsible for the unemployed who can not be expected
to find paid jobs, the ‘deserving poor’ such as seniors, single parents, the disabled – while the federal
government has responsibility for the employable community. In 1956 federal government shares 50% of costs of administering
unemployment benefits
1943- Dr. David Levy suggests
that bad parenting can consist of extremes of overprotectiveness or overpermissiveness.
He suggested that people likely to look inside baby carriages of others are likely to be overprotective parents.
1943 – the Marsh Report
in Canada suggests that children deserve social security
1944 – Family allowance
was started in Canada as an alternative to raising the general level of wages and to ease the transition from war to peace
in terms of a family’s purchasing power. The Earl of Athlone, Governor
General says it is ‘to aid in ensuring a minimum of well-being to the children of the nation and to help gain for them
a closer approach to equality of opportunity in the battle of life”. The
allowance was given to families with incomes under $1200 per year and amounted to $5 per child per month under age 6 and $8
per month for older children to age 16 (the family allowance existed in Canada until the mid 1990s. It has been replaced by
a child benefits package which is quite different- non universal, clawed back for those on welfare, of decreasing size not
increasing as the child gets older, and based not on the number of children but on total household income regardless in some
cases of number of children ) In Quebec the cheque originally was sent to fathers until pressure from Therese Casgrain forced
the premier to change this so mothers got the cheque.
1916 – Marjory MacMurchy
in “The Woman Bless Her” says that in Canada also homemaking and raising children have economic and social value.
She notes “Although note yet recognized as occupations by the Census, the two most important women employments are homemaking
and the care of children’
1916 – Singe mothers
are given a small allowance in some Canadian provinces
as long as they were at one
time married and have more than one child
1917- a minimum wage law
was established for women in Alberta
1917 – In Saskatchewan
women with property could hold public office (rights to women were originally based on property, age, character and marital status. These conditions were only gradually withdrawn)
1917 – By the Wartime
Elections Act in Canada the vote was given to women who had close relatives in the armed services
1918 – Canada –
an income tax deduction is created for employees with dependent spouses (this is a shift from the assumption employers offer
a family wage. It also is gender neutral. However the term’ dependent’ suggests the unpaid spouse is not contributing
anything, even services)
1918 – British women
win the vote is they are over 30 and own property. 8 ½ million British women
are thereby eligible to vote, but few take advantage of the right at first.
1918 – Marie Stopes in Britain writes “Wise Parenthood” advocating birth control. Marie Sanger
in “Family Limitation” advocating birth control was charged with disseminating obscene literature.
1918 – women in Canada
(except in Quebec) get the right to vote
1918 –30 Many employers
in Canada paid an allowance to married but not single employees, instead of a general wage allowance. This fund helped pay
for family-related expenses. Later employers were required to pay into a fund that was used to help pay birth bonuses, nursing
allowances and family allowance.
1918- Canada – by the
Child Tax Exemption some costs of child-rearing were recognized, as was the social value of parenting
1919 – the British
National Bureau of Economic Research defines income in the market economy as requiring money to change hands but it does include
the value of the food produced in the home. (omission of unpaid labor . The principle that money must change hands continues
in 2002 in Canada where child care also is not valued unless money changes hands)
1919 – Britain –
by the Sex Disqualification(Removal) Act – women could now enter professions formerly for men only
1920 – in Canada a
mother’s allowance is established in many provinces but only for mothers in distress.
1920 – in the US by
the 19th Amendment, women got the right to vote
1920 – Dr. Augusta
Stowe Gullen in “Should Husbands Pay Their Wives Salaries?” writes that the homemaking work of a wife increases
a man’s earning capacity and that she is in effect his ‘business partner’. She lobbies government to declare
a wife an equal partner in a marriage, with a definite income. The National Council of Canada debates the issue.
1920 – in Alberta under
the Infants Act – for the first time mothers as well as fathers become joint and equal guardians of their children.
In Saskatchewan mothers are automatic guardians of children under age 14 and fathers are guardians of children over age 14)
1920 – Eleanor Raylor
warns that women’s movements that ignore mothers’ rights invite failure.
1921 – in BC- maternity
leave is granted, for 6 weeks.
1922- Alberta’s Married
Women’s Act for the first time gives a woman absolute independence in her own financial and legal dealings (this may
have been for unmarried women only)
1923 – Arnold Gesell
in “The Preschool Child” emphasizes early childhood as a pivotal time for education
1923 – By Canada’s
Bank Law the amount of money a married woman could deposit was raised to a maximum of $2,000.
1923 – UN passes a
5 part Declaration on the Rights of the Child
1923 – an amendment
to the constitution to give ‘equality of rights’ to women, the Equal Rights Amendment, is introduced but not passed.
It has been introduced in nearly every session of congress since, but by 2002 has still
not passed.
1925- Agnes MacPhail, Canadian
Member of Parliament states that women must be given economic freedom within the home.
(the mechanism of such recognition varies. Some argue for salaries for wives)
1926 – Jean Piaget
in “The Language and Thought of the Child” tracks development of intelligence through four main stages from zero
to 15 years
1926-30 New Zealadn has a
minimum salary to cover expenses of the earner supporting a family with two children. Extra bonuses are given for more than
two children.
1927- Canada passes a pension
act to assist provinces to give a pension to the elderly at age 70.
1928 – Dr. John Watson
in “Psychological Care of Infant and Child” argued that mothers may not be the best ones to raise their own children.
He questioned whether children should even know their parents and advocated instead a ‘scientific’ way of raising
children, “programming” the young to fit into the culture. He argued that parents should not hug or kiss their
chidren.
1929 – Five Canadian
Women (Emily Murphy, Louise McKinney, Nellie McClung, Irene Parlby and Henriette Muir Edwards) refuse to accept the Supreme
Court ruling against them and take their plea to the Privy Council in England which rules that women are persons and can take
roles in public life including in the Senate. The recognition of women as legal ‘persons’ became known as the Persons Case. (Edwards v. A. G. Canada)
1929 – Hildegard Kneeland
observed that letting women enter the paid professions with men did not solve the dilemma back home of assuming homemakers
were financially dependent,
1929 – in Canada a
committee is set up to study having a national Family Allowance
1930 – in France a
wage allowance is paid to encourage mothers to remain at home to care for their children. It is to recognize ‘la mere
au foyer”
1930 – in Canada married
women were for the first time allowed the right to control their own wages and not have to consult with their husbands
1930 – New Brunswick
allowed women to hold elected office.
1930- in the US the Social
Security Act Aid to Dependent Children provided a mother’s pension of sorts so war widows could still be with their
children
1938- the League of Nations
tallies numbers who are gainfully employed and ignores housework
1935 – the US passes
a Social Security Act to help families with dependent children
1933 –45 – in
the US nurseries are funded to encourage women to enter the paid work force during the depression
1938- public assistance to
the poor is given not in cash but in food and clothing and is provided on an emergency basis only, usually by private charities
and local municipalities.
1939- In three days in Britain
nearly a million children were moved from British towns and cities to safer rural locations. Some went with mothers and others
went alone. Those who provided accommodation for such children were paid an allowance per child. (rights for women, when granted
were also granted piecemeal- right to vote, to hold public office, to own property, to manage one’s own money, to be
legal guardians of children)
1939 – Child care centers
were set up to encourage women to join the paid labor force during the war. In the US women were encouraged to work in defense
plants. In Canada in 1942 the federal government passes an order in council to have cost sharing with the provinces to establish
such daycares.
1940’s Betty Friedan
observed that it was suddenly common to blame a mother’s influence for ‘every case history of the troubled child,
alcoholic , suicidal, schizophrenic, psychopathic, neurotic adult, impotent, homosexual male, frigid promiscuous female”
1940- John Bowly, British
psychiatrist argues that each child should have a warm and continuous relationship with a parent or parent-substitute in order
to have mental health
1940 – Harriot Stanton
Blatch in “Challenging Years” argues that motherhood but be given an endowment “Setting her free will repay
the world”
1940 – Unemployment
Insurance act in Canada keeps benefits at 50% of the lowest paying job in order
to encourage recipients to re-enter paid work soon. This proves however to be a hazard to health of recipients who are in
long-term need. (the amount is raised in 1971 to 2/3 of wage)
1940 – Unemployment
Insurance Act clarifies division of powers so that the provinces are responsible for the unemployed who can not be expected
to find paid jobs, the ‘deserving poor’ such as seniors, single parents, the disabled – while the federal
government has responsibility for the employable community. In 1956 federal government shares 50% of costs of administering
unemployment benefits
1943- Dr. David Levy suggests
that bad parenting can consist of extremes of overprotectiveness or overpermissiveness.
He suggested that people likely to look inside baby carriages of others are likely to be overprotective parents.
1943 – the Marsh Report
in Canada suggests that children deserve social security
1944 – Family allowance
was started in Canada as an alternative to raising the general level of wages and to ease the transition from war to peace
in terms of a family’s purchasing power. The Earl of Athlone, Governor
General says it is ‘to aid in ensuring a minimum of well-being to the children of the nation and to help gain for them
a closer approach to equality of opportunity in the battle of life”. The
allowance was given to families with incomes under $1200 per year and amounted to $5 per child per month under age 6 and $8
per month for older children to age 16 (the family allowance existed in Canada until the mid 1990s. It has been replaced by
a child benefits package which is quite different- non universal, clawed back for those on welfare, of decreasing size not
increasing as the child gets older, and based not on the number of children but on total household income regardless in some
cases of number of children ) In Quebec the cheque originally was sent to fathers until pressure from Therese Casgrain forced
the premier to change this so mothers got the cheque.
1993- in the Supreme Court
Moge v Moge – it is ruled that spousal support must take into consideration the economic contribution of the unpaid
caregiver in raising the children during the marriage. The requirement for divorced parties to make a clean break and become
economically self-sufficient quickly is rejected.
1993 – Canada ends
its universal family allowance program
1993 – Women’s
groups in Canada join to focus on unpaid work as work, in their “Work is work is Work ‘ campaign to get unpaid
work included in the census. They are Mothers are Women, BC Voice of Women, Women to Women Global Strategies and the Canadian
Alliance of Home Managers and they are joined later by others including Kids First.
1993 –Federal Liberals
issue a Red Book promise to expand daycare by cost-sharing with the provinces and to invest in it $720 more million in the
next 3 years. No parallel promises are made for children not in daycare.
1994 – authors focus
on the number of women opting to not have a powerful career but to be home with their kids. Elena Newman writes “More
Moms are Homeward Bound” and Julia Lawlor writes “Executive Exodus”
1993 – Peter v. Beblow
–the Supreme Court rules that common law wives also have the right to an equal share of assets upon ending the relationships,
and that child-care and household services are worth recognition.
1993- MP Guy St-Julien enters
one of several private members’ bills he will offer over the next several years suggesting a salary for homemakers.
1993 – a Calgary couple
challenges the Income Tax Act by having a man pay his spouse to be home to raise their children. The Income Tax Court of Canada disallows this action but admits that parents in the home are victims of
a discrimination. (Kids First who helped fund the challenge has inadequate funds to launch an appeal)
1995 – in Thibaudeau
v Canada the court admits that there are hidden costs in the custody of children and rules that a woman need not pay tax on
child support payments. (previously the ex-spouse could deduct these payments from his taxable income, but the recipient had
to pay tax on them)
1994 – Statistics Canada’s
fourth study of The Value of Household Work in Canada’ finds that unpaid labor now has a value between $210 billion
(opportunity cost) and $318 billion (replacement cost) amounting to 31-46% of the GDP
1994 – the Conference
Board of Canada surveys 7000 employees and finds that 6% provide care to an elderly, disabled or infirm family member.
1994 – the National
Council of Women, others are Women, AFEAS and the Canadian Home Economics Association hold a “Women as Family Caregivers’
symposium and recommend that homemaker/home manager/ caregiver be designated as an occupation in the standard occupational
classification dictionaries.
1995 – the UN Human
Development Report announced that women’s unpaid work is worth $11 trillion annually and notes that though ¾ of men’s
work around the world is paid, only 1/3 of women’s work is. Dr. Mahbub
ul Huq notes “there is an unwritten conspiracy on a global scale to undervalue women’s work and contributions
to society”
1995 – Monica Townson
reports to the Canadian Advisory Council on the Status of Women that middle-aged women who were home to raise children often
face poverty in old age because of lack of financial recognition for their work in the home.
1995 – the Canada Health
and Social Transfer reduces transfers to provinces by 33%
1995 – The UN holds
a Conference on Women in Beijing and 181 member states including Canada sign
the Platform for Action to begin determining the value of unpaid work A report
from Denmark notes that a universal daycare program there has not been successful and that the government there is now considering
paying an allowance to mothers who raise children at home
1995- Barbara Brandt in “Whole
Life Economics: Revaluing Daily Life” suggests that a woman who cleans and cooks is doing work valuable to the GDP
1995- The BC Supreme Court
rules that the tragic death of a mother entitles the family to a compensation of about a million dollars for loss of her unpaid
contribution and her parenting
1995 – The Supreme
Court in M. V H rules that lifestyle choices predicated upon personal beliefs are protected under the Charter. (the issue
in question is gay rights but the choice of how and where to raise one’s children is also a personal lifestyle choice
and may be analogous) The court also redefines family to recognize interdependence
and economic partnerships which are in the public interest. (the recognition of sharing, not of dependency heralds a new status
for unpaid caregivers)
1996 – Sociologist
Tom Langford of the University of Calgary observes that the US pro-family movement continues to be linked to anti-gay, anti-abortion,
pro-Christian, anti-feminist strategies, under people such as Jerry Fallwell, Dan Quayle and Pat Buchanan but that the Canadian
pro-family movement has a more centrist position, without religious or political affiliation and is post-feminist. He singles
the views of Beverley Smith as ones more academic, focusing on secular social science.
1996 – The first Canadian
census to mention and tally unpaid work is distributed
1996 Marilyn Waring in “
Three Masquerades” continues her study of unpaid work internationally and observes “When I see a woman holding
her child, I know I am watching a woman at work”
1996 – the Canadian
Council on Social Development notes in “The Progress of Canada’s Children” that contrary to stereotype,
not all parents want daycare and not all using at home care are wealthy. It finds “many parents go to extraordinary
lengths so that one can be at home when the children are young, often living below the poverty line to do so”
1996 – MP Paul Szabo enters a private member’s bill to have a universal child-tax credit.
1996 – Cindy Ramming
in “All Mothers Work” notes that those who work in the home save the family money by doing their work unpaid (others
argue that only those with paid income work and that they have huge costs to earn, such as daycare, so only t hey deserve
tax breaks. There is even a suggestion that families be taxed on the unpaid labor
they benefit from if one parent is at home)
1997 – Canadian homemaker
makes a formal complaint at the United Nations that Canada’s tax, divorce and child-care laws discriminate against parents
in the home. She is supported by 3 Canadian women’s groups as well as groups in England, Italy, France and Australia
to confirm this trend internationally. The Canadian government replies to the complaint denying any problem. The UN in 1999 responding to this complaint expresses concern over violations of economic rights, legal
systems discriminating, and women and children being victims of poverty and it notes the absence of women in decision-making
1997 – the Parti Quebecois
government in Quebec eliminates the baby bonus program and directs most of its funding to a universal daycare support, benefiting
daycare users but ignoring all other styles of parenting. The birth rate of 1.6 quickly drops back to under 1.5
1997 – the Child Care
Expense Deduction which was for children to age 7 and in the amount of $1,000 in 1976 has increased to $4,000 in 1984, to
$5,000 in 1998, and to $7,000 in 2000. It is extended in 1997 to children to age 14 and by 2000 to children to age 16. There
are no parallel increases in funding for parents not using daycare. In fact such
parents get a maximum of $207 for the entire year, and only for children 7 and under.
The CCED it cannot be claimed by parents providing care themselves, relative-based
care, or for care expenses if the family is not a dual income family. Most parents therefore are unable to claim the benefit.
1997 More feminist writers
observe a need to value the home side of the career-family balance. Elizabeth
Perle McKenna writes “When Work Doesn’t Work Anymore”. Iris Krasnow writes “Surrendering to Motherhood”
and Katie Roiphe writes “Fruitful: Living the Contradictions”
1997 – the Fraser Institute
reports that on some household incomes the single-income family pays 150% of the tax of the dual-income family. The issue
of tax discrimination against the single-income family becomes an area of national press focus culminating in spring 1999
in a close but defeated vote in the House of Commons to eliminate the discrimination.
1998 – The federal
budget introduces a tax credit of $400 per year for caregivers. However it is extended only to those who care for the elderly
or disabled, not to those who care for the young.
1998 – Isabella Bakker
of York University publishes “Unpaid Work and Macroeconomics” She raises public attention to the existence of
the third level of the economy, the unpaid sector, which is often taken for granted as she puts it, as a well that is never
expected to run dry.
1998 - Betty Friedan in “Beyond Gender: The New Politics of Work and Family” suggest that women’s
liberation should not be won at the expense of men and that feminism made a mistake when it ignored motherhood.
1996 – parents of young
children are lumped together with unemployed singles under the Employment Insurance plan and are expected in several provinces
(Quebec, New Brunswick, Alberta and eventually Ontario) to do community service 17 hours a week in order to qualify for welfare
benefits. The ‘workfare ‘program does not recognize obligations for caring for children and does not teach new
skills or provide child-care.
1998 –
the value of civic and volunteer work in Nova Scotia is tallied by GPI Atlantic at $2 billion annually or 10% of the GDP.
1998 a tax subcommittee under
MP Paul Szabo recommends a universal child tax deduction of $2,000 per year or a nontaxable caregiver benefit.
1998 MP Paul Szabo introduces
a private member’s bill to pay mother at home $2600 a year
1998 – a Southam News
Compass poll finds that 86% of Canadians favor changing tax law to allow a parent to be home with a child
1999- GPI Atlantic reports
that volunteer work has declined 7.2% since 1987 and suggest this is evidence that the volunteer sector cannot compensate
for pubic sector budget cuts (the argument that the paid economy requires the unpaid in order to function is strengthened
noticing that when the unpaid sector is \discouraged, the paid sector suffers)
1999 – Mothers Are
Women publishes a research document of unpaid work ‘When Women Count”
1999 – the typical
salary of a daycare worker in Canada is $18,000 a year, roughly equivalent to that of a parking attendant.
1999 – The Canadian
Policy Research Network finds that a majority of parents want economic supports for parents during the first 3 years of life
so parents can choose to be home with their children
1999- the Subcommittee on
Children and Youth at Risk notes that Canada is now the only G7 country to lack a universal recognition of costs of rearing
children
2000 – Canadian government
signs an Early Childhood Development accord with the provinces and territories, promising massive funding for healthy pregnancy,
and parenting and family supports, but all flowing to organizations, none to families directly
2000 – Canadian Policy
Research Network finds that provinces vary widely in income supplements for the poor and suggests instead a universal tax
credit for raising children
2000 – Dr. Shelley
Phipps of Dalhousie University studying family poicy in Euroe notes that in most
countries there, maternity and parental benefits are not thought of as in Canada, as linked to labor market programs but are
funded as a social benefit
2001- The European Observatory
on Family Matters notes that Norway now provides a cash subsidy to parents at home, and that Belgium allows parents to deduct
some expenses not incurred at daycares.
2001 – the Child Tax
Benefit which was $595 per child in 1991 was reduced to $162 per month and also is decreased in value based not on income of the caregiver but on entire household income. By
2002 the first level of family income to reduce benefits is reduced from $26,330 to $23,500.
2002 –Hamburg Germany
creates a KIA card voucher to let parents use whatever type of child care they prefer, including care in the home. Austria adopts a similar program with benefits flowing with the child. The movements are a response to
the doping birth rate and to survey results that parents want choices in child-rearing
2002 – Chartered Accountant
Heather Gore-Hickman of Calgary reveals that current tax policy still treats unequally households of identical income. She
finds that on an income of $60,000, the household earning $30,000 and $30,000 pays $6276 federal tax, while the family earning
$36,000 and $24,000 pays 6569 in federal tax and the family earning $60,000 and
zero pays $8783 in federal tax, the last arrangement paying 42% more than the first, on identical household income.
2002 – Beverley Smith
asks the federal government for a Supreme Court reference to see if current laws for unpaid caregivers are consistent with
the Charter of Rights. The government denies her request for this review.
2002 The federal government
extends maternity leave benefits under its Employment Insurance program to a full year. However these benefits are only eligible
to new mothers with paid employment outside the home over 600 hours in the preceding year, thereby excluding new mothers with
fewer than 600 paid hours, employers, the self-employed and new mothers who were not employed outside the home the preceding
year.
2002 The Action Democratique
de Quebec party wins 51% of popular support in a June popularity survey. It proposes a voucher system so parents can choose
how to raise their children in or out of daycare.
2003 – Statistics Canada
reveals that provincial governments now spend 17% of their budgets on health but only 15% on education.
2003 Yvonnne Coupal of Quebec
gets national attention for her class action lawsuit claiming Quebec government discrimination in funding only daycare children
and not those outside daycare.
2004 – The Population
Reference Bureau of the US notes that though the 2002 birth rates in the 3rd world were 3.3-3.8 births per second,
those in the developed nations were well below replacement level, at 0.4 births per second.
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