Gender neutral policy is a myth
Susan Franceschet
QUOI Media
Canadians might believe that women’s equality has been achieved in our country. But the numbers tell a different story. In just four years, we’ve fallen from 19th to 36th in the global rankings of economic equality between men and women. While other countries are closing the gender gap, Canadian women are falling further behind relative to men.
We’re doing even worse on political equality. Women hold less than a third of seats in Parliament, putting us in the 71st spot globally, just ahead of Zimbabwe.
Women’s inequality in politics and the economy are linked. And given the looming crises Canada faces today, our poor showing when it comes to women’s equality should be setting off alarm bells.
Crafting appropriate solutions to threats like climate change and tariffs demand women’s voices in decision-making. Even if the problems we face might appear gender neutral, they are not. Economic uncertainty, political insecurity and climate change do not affect men and women the same way. Gender neutral policy is a myth.
Let’s start with the cost of living crisis, a top issue for many Canadians. This crisis carries unique risks for women.
Women earn less than men, are more likely to live in poverty and spend more time doing unpaid labour in the home. Four in five single-parent families are headed by women and census data show that women and children in these families are more likely to experience housing and food insecurity. The affordability crisis isn’t gender neutral because women are more at risk.
Climate change is another issue where the consequences for women are often overlooked. Intense heat waves, flooding and fires, with their attendant threats to our air and water quality, are dangerous for everyone. But women are distinctly vulnerable.
Extreme heat poses serious risks to pregnant women. Poor air quality means mothers – who spend more time caring for children than fathers – are more likely to miss work to care for children suffering asthma. When fires and floods prompt mass evacuations, women’s lower incomes make it harder to find safe and affordable housing for themselves and their families.
Prime Minister Carney’s response to the Trump threat also risks making women poorer. Shifting resources to defense budgets could produce a ‘guns versus butter’ dilemma, with social spending cuts to offset increased allocations to the military. Women rely more heavily on social transfers than men and make up the majority of the workers delivering those programs – think teachers and nurses. Diverting social spending to defense will hurt women in two ways — as program beneficiaries and front-line providers.
As voters, women understand how policies are likely to affect them and which ones put them at greater risk. Decades of research confirm that women have different policy priorities than men. They’re more likely to support government spending on health, education and combatting climate change. They’re less supportive of military and defense spending.
Among Canadians, 31 per cent of men are okay with slashing social spending to reach the NATO target of allocating five per cent of GDP to the military. Only 18 per cent of women think this is a good idea.
The problem is that women’s policy priorities won’t be expressed and defended if there are too few of them around the decision-making table. Research shows that elected women are more responsive than men to women’s policy preferences. They draw on their own experiences to explain how specific policy options are likely to help or harm women.
In Canada, women’s presence in parliament has stalled at just 30 per cent. That’s not enough if we want to make sure that women’s concerns and policy interests are considered when parliament debates the pressing issues facing our country.
To get closer to a balanced parliament, Canada should use the same policy tools that other successful countries use to make sure women’s concerns get heard in policy discussions. Requiring parties to have gender-balanced electoral lists works. So do financial incentives that reward parties for electing more women. Without action, Canadian women will continue to fall further behind.
Susan Franceschet is a professor of political science at the University of Calgary and a contributing researcher to Informed Perspectives’ Balance the Power Initiative.
