Have we learned anything from the she-cession?

In April 2020, the female employment rate dropped to its lowest point since 1985. Now, as the economy recovers and women are wooed back to work, have we learned from the mistakes that drove them away in the first place?

In April 2020, the female employment rate dropped to its lowest point since 1985, highlighting the disparity between men and women in the workforce, according to a report by RBC Economics. But as the economy recovers and women are wooed back to work, have we learned from the mistakes that drove them away in the first place?

The RBC report said women’s workforce participation fell to 55 per cent amid pandemic-related lockdowns that mainly effected female-dominated industries. The report also showed  that job recovery was slower for women than for men and noted that women with children between the ages of six and 17 were more likely to leave the workforce as they continued to carry the burden of family care.

Experts say the drop in women’s workforce participation can lead to both social and economic consequences. If women‘s participation rates were equal to men’s, Canada’s economy would see a boost to gross domestic product (GDP) of $100 billion per year, according to Carrie Freestone, an economist with RBC Economics.

Armine Yalnizyan, an economist and Atkinson Fellow on the Future of Workers, said that lower employment rates for women is a business problem when it comes to household spending.

“Fifty-seven per cent of GDP is fueled by household purchasing power,” Yalnizyan said. “When you cut the disposable income of these households, you cut the purchasing power.”

She estimated that 40 per cent of this expenditure comes from women in households with children.