The decision of the federal government to no longer do the long form of the census will erode women’s rights. This survey was the sole avenue we had to tally unpaid work and was only reluctantly provided after a hard fought battle across the country headed by homemaker Carol Lees of Saskatoon in 1993.
The data from the long form was used by women’s groups to let government see how much of the economy depends on free labor of women in the home, and gave legislators new perspective on career-family balance, gender equality, and the third wave of women’s rights. To substitute a new survey but not publish results risks silencing, yet again, the voices of women.
The contributions of homemakers can nor will not be fairly recognized by abandoning the collection of data on the roles they play.
Results must be published!
Beverley Smith
Calgary, Alberta
