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Women who set a low value on themselves make life hard for all women - Nellie McClung
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 Single 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 These conditions were only gradually withdrawn)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 inFamily 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 mothers 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 mans 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 womens movements that ignore mothers rights invite failure.
1921 in BC- maternity leave is granted, for 6 weeks.
1922- Albertas Married Womens 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 Canadas 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 Childtracks development of intelligence through four main stages
from zero to 15 years
1926-30 New Zealand 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 inPsychological 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,
1929in 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
1930in 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 mothers 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
1935 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.
1940s Betty Friedan observed that it was suddenly common to blame a mothers 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 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 familys 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.
1944 March recommends family allowance be universal so children have the basics of shoes and clothing and to give parents
leeway to make decisions about expenditures. Charlotte Whitton argued that family allowance should only go to the poor and
that benefits should not be cash, but rather low-cost housing and health care.
1945 Gertrude Williams, economist praised women who returned from the paid work force saying that rearing babies through
happy health childhood to independent maturity is even more important than wiring airplanes
1945 in Britain, universal state Family Allowance as begun, paid to mothers, after a campaign led by Eleanor Rathbone
1946 The Commission on the Status of Women is established at the United Nations, to eliminate discrimination against
women
1947 the United Nations adopt a convention concerning maternity protection and extends coverage to women wage earners
working fro home. Employers must allow mothers time for nursing at paid work. (not all member nations sign this convention
however and it is only for women with paid employment)
1948 the first female US Senator, Margaret Chase Smith is elected
1948- the UN passes the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) affirming equal rights of men and women and the
family as the fundamental group unit of society and one entitled to protection by the state.
1948- Ontario gives a Mothers Allowance to women who have been deserted over a year (the state helps with money and does
not pressure the woman to leave the home to get paid work)
1949- Margaret Mead in Male and Female observes that women should be valued not only for work outside the home but also
for work in it, noting when the home itself is undervalued then also women will cease to enjoy being women and men will neither
envy nor value the female role
1950 Family allowance is proposed in the US but not enacted. It is supported by John F. Kennedy.
1950- Dr. Jessie Bernard in The Future of Motherhood writes that during this period no longer married mothers are expected
to get a job in the paid labor force even if children are very young.. Mothers on welfare in the US are expected to leave
their children to get a paid job.
1952- in Manitoba for the first time women got the right to serve as jurors
1953 the United Nations introduces a system of national accounts to monitor the financial output of a nations economy.
It uses gross national product and ignores unpaid household labor.
1955 La Leche League forms in Chicago, to promote breast-feeding and research its emotional and immunological benefit
to children
1955 in Ontario unwed mothers and deserted wives are eligible for financial assistance
1958- in Canada a married man can deduct one third of his income of $3,000 to support his wife in the home (the value
of spousal support progressively shrank and by 1998 is about 1/7 of a standard income)
1959 the UN passes the Declaration of the Rights of the Child giving children special protection and opportunities (In
1989 these rights are made legally binding)
1959Dr. David Goodman researched infancy and finds that babies wither and die despite good food, shelter and medical care,
if they lack love. He notes the human need for loving arms to cuddle and comfort’
1960 the Canadian Bill of Rights recognizes the right of individuals to equality before the law and protection of the
law. (Later PM Chretien expands his to equality under the law and benefit before and under the law). (Later discrimination
challenges will question whether gays, homemakers and other disenfranchised groups get such equal benefits)
1960 Professor Milton Friedman in the US proposes that for those with very low incomes there should be a negative income
tax so the state would provide them with assistance
1960 in the US it is found that families with many children often fall below the poverty level. the US launches what
it calls its war on poverty since ¼ of American children live below the poverty level
1963 Betty Friedan in The Feminine Mystique observes that details of her experience of motherhood as positive even though
she understands the feminist movement to allow other roles. Dont get me wrong. I havent gone back to the feminine mystique.
I dont think having a baby is absolutely necessary or even sufficient for any and every womans fulfillment. Chosen motherhood
is the real liberation; She notes however a sense of dissatisfaction in some young mothers and urges women to say no to the
housewife image. She claims it is not hard to combine paid work and motherhood.
1963- US President Kennedys Task Force on Manpower Conservation finds that a third of the nation’s children
are in families with four or more children. The comment is raised that American wage structure does not provide sufficient
income for parents of large families
1964 Benjamin Bloom in Stability and Change in Human Characteristics notes that the early years are crucial to character
development
1965 in the US rather than assisting the poor with money, they are assisted with programs of health and nutritional and
education experiences provided by the state. Project Head Start is begun and quickly spreads for children aged 4 and 5.(the
services of Head Start eventually spread to grade 3)
1966 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights promotes equal pay for work of equal value(the application
however is restricted to the paid labor force and does not address valuing unpaid work) It also ensures that the widest possible
protection and assistance should be accorded to the family while it cares for and educates dependent children
1966Canada Carter Royal Commission on Taxation proposes using the family as a unit of taxation option to that of an unattached
individual. It is never enacted.
1966 National Organization for Women forms in the US to eliminate discrimination on the basis of sex. In 1967 New York
Radical Women is founded by Shulamith Finestone and it later demonstrates against the Miss America Beauty Pageant
1966- Canada Pension plan is paid for by individuals not government and is administered through salary deduction with
employers paying matching amounts (It therefore excludes all nonsalaried adults such as caregivers in the home)
1966Canada Assistance Plan focuses on federal and provincial sharing of costs to low income parents get daycare (no parallel
help for parents who do not use daycare)
1966 Lassociation deducation et daction social forms in Quebec joining 25,000 members to focus on social issues and lobby
for change
1968 Canada - Divorce Act entitles either parent to apply for maintenance or for child custody, thereby removing gender
assumptions. (However it does not recognize unpaid labor as a contribution to support of the child)
1968 52 countries now have some system of family allowance, but the US does not. The US has an Aid to Families of Dependent
Children, which is only for families without two parents.
1969 Margaret Benston in The Political Economy of Womens Liberation writes that women whose work is not paid are not deemed
to do real work ;and women themselves who do this valueless work, can hardly be expected to be worth as much as men, who work
for money She notes however that when a man is paid his wage buys the labor of two people.
1970 the US Childrens Bill of Rights includes the rights to nurturing by affectionate parents, the right to be educated
to ones full potential, the right to be born healthy and wanted throughout childhood
1970- Child welfare legislation in Canada requires that children under age 12 be supervised by an adult.
1970- The Toronto Visiting Homemakers Association expresses concern about the low status which society accords to women
within the home
1970 In Canada the Royal Commission on the Status of Women recommends that the family be the unit of taxation. It also
recommends a substantial cash allowance of possibly $500, in monthly installments for dependent children to age 16, taxed
for wealthy families, but universal. No tax receipts would be required as evidence of child care expenses because the child
care allowance would be paid to all mothers..The contribution made by mothers who stay home to care for children would be
recognized and fewer mothers would be forced to work outside for financial reasons (it is never enacted) The Commission also
notes that child development requires a stable relationships with an adult during the first three years. It quotes Benjamin
Blooms study which found that 50% of an individuals intellectual development takes place before age 4.
1970- a Royal Commission on Taxation in Canada again recommends incomesplitting, but is not enacted.
1970- in Manitoba a tax experiment called Mincome is enacted, as a guaranteed annual income. It has good results and is
not abused but is quietly ended in 1979.
1970- Farm wife Iris Murdoch is denied half of the assets of the family farm upon divorce. She challenges the courts and
loses. There is a national protest after which Murdoch is given a lump sum amount in 1975.
1970- Dr. Paul Adams in The Infant, The Family and Societysuggests that children should not be put in institutions in
their first year of life. He calls separation of mother from child in that interval maternal deprivation
1970- in the US Daniel Patrick Moynihan inThe Politics of Guaranteed Income suggests that money be paid to mothers of
small children not as welfare with all the stigma attached to that status but as a return to the policy of the mothers pension
payment for the services these women perform. He writes that if American society recognized childrearing as productive work
to be included in national economic accounts, the receipt of welfare would not imply dependency.
1971 Special Senate Committee on Poverty under Senator David Croll recommends a guaranteed annual income in Canada but
is not enacted.
1970- Phyllis Schlafly in the Power of the Positive Woman argues against feminism and equal rights for women in the US,
establishing an organization known as Eagle Forum.
1970- in the US the Homemakers Equal Rights Association aims to improve the legal status of its members, stating that
the principle underlying the law that regards the wife as the property of her husband places the homemaker in a precarious
position under the law. We believe that laws should homemakersnonmonetary contribution to the family welfare as being of equal
value to that of the wage earner and that the married woman should be recognized by law to be a full and equal partner to
her husband
1971Canada introduces a child care expense deduction, for single parent families only. It is $2,000 per child till age
14 (it eventually extends to dual parent families but only if they are dual income, and its value increases to 4,000, 5,000
and in 2002 7,000 per child till age 7 and 4,000 per child till age 16. It cannot be claimed however by those using care arrangements
other than daycare)
1971- a Statistics Canada report estimates that household work represents 41% of the Gross Domestic Product.
1971 the Canada Labour Code gave 17 weeks of maternity leave
1971 the Income Tax Act in Canada permitted a deduction for costs of childcare but only if they were receipted, provided
by a nonfamily members, and incurred so the woman could earn money or study towards earning money. (most parents rearing children
were therefore excluded from the benefit since only 14,400 children are in full-time daycare)
1971 In Canada the National Action Committee on the Status of Women (NAC) forms to press government to implement recommendations
of the 1970 Royal Commission on the Status of Women. (it goes from a grant of $50,00 in 1971 to a budget of nearly half a
million dollars in 1985 but shrinks seriously in the 1990s as women express less interest
in its focus. At no point does it argue for the 1970 recommendations to value caregivers in the home)
1971 Newman, Berkowitz and Owen in their book How to Be Your Own Best Friend suggest that children are an obstacle to
freedom and that it is wise not to have any.
1971 Canada Labor Code provides 17 weeks of pay while a woman is giving birth and taking care of a newborn. However the
benefit is provided only to women in the paid labor force.
1971Act Respecting Married Women in Manitoba permits a husband to control the earnings of a wife but allows her free decision-making
about property she owns. She is only permitted her own earnings if the husband is cruel or insane. (In 1972 in Ontario however
a married woman can control her own earnings)
1971 US White House Conference on Youth declares rights for those aged 14-24 including the right to preserve and cultivate
ethnic heritage, the right to adequate food, clothing and a decent home (yet does not provide funding to help parents meet
those obligations)
1972 Selma James in England starts the Wages for Housework Campaign. It becomes an international movement. James claims
that womens work not only provides services but provides the future labor force. (however it does not distinguish between
housework and caregiving, a distinction some feel is crucial since housework is deemed for self but caregiving is for others)
1972 in Canada the child care expense deduction is permitted only to those using receipted daycare, not to parents or
family of the child, and is proposed only to assist mothers to work, meaning to be in the paid labor force, or to be students
so they can be in the paid labor force. (it does not focus on the child)
1972 - Johnnie Tillmon in Welfare is a Womans Issue writes that a woman should be able to choose whether to work outside
her home or in it, to care for her own children all of the time or part-time.
1973 in Canada the Family Allowance Act changes family benefits so the coverage is no longer universal and is indexed
to the consumer price index. The parent claiming it has to report it as income and by 1974 pay tax on it.
1973 the US Supreme Court legalizes abortion
1973 the Canadian Advisory Council on the Status of Women is formed to advise government on issues of concern to women.
By 1993 it had a $3 million dollar budget. .
(At one point it endorses choices for women about how to raise their children .Funding for it is suddenly stopped in the
mid 1990s)
1973 in the US the National Organization for Nonparenthood forms with 2000 members saying that people do not deserve honor
and respect simply for having a baby.
1973 in England Suzie Fleming in Family Allowance: the Womans Money argued to have family allowance continued and extended.
She said We want to keep the family allowance as paid automatically- never mind whether the men are working or not working,
on strike or supplementary benefits. Its paid at all times, through sickness, unemployment, strikes or breakdown of marriage.
.This is the only money we can rely on By 1977 it was extended.
1973 Mary Lee Stephenson in Housewives in Womens Liberation suggested that women should not be home full time because
they became too intensely involved emotionally with their children. She promoted daycare.
1974 the American Federation of Teachers proposes the federal government fund universal childcare (daycare)
1975The UK sees its first woman jockey and first woman jet airplane captain The PM of Britain is a woman, Margaret Thatcher
1975 Housewives for ERA forms in the US and in 1979 changes its name to HomemakersEqual Rights Association. It strivesto
work for the betterment of the homemakers legal and social status in all areas
1975 The US Children and Youth Bill of Rights passes and names as one of the rights the right to be part of a family
1975- the UN holds its first World Conference on Women, in Mexico. One of the goals for the next decade was to recognize
the economic value of womens work in the home, in domestic food production and in voluntary activities that are not traditionally
paid.
1975 a Gallup poll finds that 49% of Canadians favor a salary for housewives
1975the Calgary (Canada) Housewives Association forms (and disbands in 1987)
1975 Tish Sommers in the US coins the term displaced homemaker to describe women who have been homemakers all of their
lives, who upon divorce areforcibly exiledfrom their role and without income. They are ineligible for unemployment insurance
because they had not made the contributions only paid workers can make, and they are ineligible for welfare if their children
are 18 and not disabled. They have a hard time finding jobs because employers feel they are too old.
1975 Betsy Warrior and Lisa Leghorn in Houseworkers Handbook suggest that women in the home get salary to eliminate their
economic dependence on men and their insecurity.
He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life -Muhammad Ali
1975 Suzie Fleming and Wendy Edmont in All Work and No Pay: Women, Housework and the Wages Due argue that mothers in the
home produce people and labour power. They claim the right to money of their won to recognize that their unpaid work keeps
everyone functioning to do their paid work.
1975 Justice Lamer of Canadas Supreme Court notes that after divorce there is a social problem of women unable to fend
for themselves. He suggests this should be the responsibility of government not of the former husband
1975- US Department of Health in The Economic Value of a Housewife evaluates cost of hiring someone to do the tasks a
woman does at home as well as of the money foregone because her labor was not paid
1975 Angry welfare mothers protest when their family allowance are deducted from their welfare cheques saying We would
like to know how we are expected to do our jobs- the most important we believe- mothering- without the proper monies
1975 Messier v Delage in the Court of Appeal of Quebec a nonearning spouse on divorce received spousal support which her
ex-husband wanted to terminate once she upgraded her education and found paid work. Though her present income was not large,
the court was asked to consider her anticipated future income. Justice J. Chouinard says that it should not be that one spouse
can continue to be a drag on the other indefinitely or acquire a lifetime in idleness at the expense of the other (this negative
view of the womans role is a setback )
1976- Arlene Rossen Cardozo in Woman at Home notes with alarm that womens lib to this point has now forced women to be
out of the home and that this is a dangerous nonliberation
1976 Law Reform Commission in Canada suggests that on divorce both spouses should get paid employment regardless of childrearing
obligations. They sayeveryone is ultimately responsible to meet his or her own needs..eventually to become self-sufficient
1976 Betty Friedan in The Second Stage” suggests that the new stage of the feminist movement should be too have
‘some very simple aids that make it possible for mothers (or father) who want to stay home and take care of their
children to do so with some economic compensation that might make the difference(her words go unheeded)
1976 Statistics Canada begins collection of data on unpaid labor but does not include this data in the census or the
GDP
1976 Dr. Jessie Hartling, economics professor, noting that work done for ones own family is required to be unwaged, suggests
that homemakers hire each other to qualify for social benefits.
1977 The Canadian government incorporates equal pay for work of equal value in the Canadian Human Rights Act (homemaking
and child-rearing are however still deemed to have no value)
1977 in the US a Conference on Women passes a resolution that homemakers should be given dignity when on welfare and
what money their receive in transfer payments should be called a wage not welfare.
1977 Canadian Advisory Council on the Status of Women suggests that child care credits be made refundable to all mothers
at home because it only when child care benefits are substantially increased and made available to homemakers that mothers
of young children will have a true choice of working inside or outside the home” (her words go unheeded and her
organization eventually is stripped of its federal funding)
1977 the president of the National Organization for Women is Eleanor Cutri, a full-time homemaker. A pro-homemakers organization
&The Martha Movement starts in the US arguing for wages for housework.
1977 the Canada and Quebec pension plans allow splitting of pension credits as part of a divorce settlement (however
homemakers still do not get their own pension, just half of the ex-spouses, making both poorer than they would be will a full
pension each)
1978John Kenneth Galbraith in Almost Everyone’s Guide to Economics writes Economists would get a very sudden
increase in the GNP by discovering and including the unpaid labor of women
1978 Statistics Canada publishes Estimate of the Value of Household Work in Canada
(however this monetary tally does not in fact allow money to be given for the tasks. It is just a tally of the money foregone
by the family or, viewed another way, a tally of the value of the labor the state benefits from without paying)
19780 Margrit Eichler in The Unpaid Work of Homemakers suggests society has a responsibility to help with costs of childrearing
and that mothers should get financial recognition for this task so they would be free to decide whether to participate in
the paid labor force.
1978 Francine Lepage in Etude sur la condition economique des femmes au Quebec suggests that money be paid to parents
of preschoolers and that the amount be equivalent approximately to the cost of having these children cared for by paid caregivers.
1978 Quebec Conseil du Statut de la femme suggests that family allowance cheques be increased as a sort of wages for
child-rearing, to recognize the public service homemakers perform in having babies and to give the woman some financial autonomy
so she could hire outside childcare if she so chose, including ability to contribute to her own unemployment insurance and
pension plan.
1978 Child Tax Credit is given in Canada for low and middle income families but is reduced depending on income and eliminated
completely after a cutoff point of $18,000. It is based not on income of the caregiver alone but on entire household income
(some feel this ignores individual work of the caregiver and forces a financial dependency)
1978- Monique Proulx in Five Million Women- a study of the Canadian Housewife examines unpaid labor. (federal policy continues
however to penalize homemaking as a career option and in a few years there are only 3 million homemakers)
1979 in Bliss v. Attorney General of Canada a woman denied unemployment benefits because of pregnancy lost her case to
have these instated. However the case was reversed later, noting that discrimination against a woman based on pregnancy was
analogous to discrimination based on gender, and was not allowed under the Charter of Rights (later the federal government
funds an entire maternity leave package in the employment insurance program limited however to women with paid income)
1979 - Canada signs the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women endorsing
the right to free choice of profession, the right to equal remuneration and equal treatment in respect of work of equal value,
the right to social security especially incases of retirement, unemployment , sickness, invalidity and old age (the implications
of this signing for homemakers are not admitted) The convention does however note that maternity is a social function and
considers the need to care for children as an incapacity to do paid work.
1979- Canadas largest womens group, NAC, refuses membership to the Wages for Housework organization
1979- Alan Roland and Barbara Harris in Sociohistorical and Psychoanalytical Perspectives on Career and Motherhood note
that some feminists who favor careers for women believe that the womens movement has unwittingly identified with pro-dominant
m ale values in denigrating the importance of child-rearing whether by women or men” They observe the movement
to achieve a balance where child-rearing and career are each accorded full worth
1979-Developmental psychologist Penelope Leach in Britain in Who Cares? notes that despite a mask of sentimental rhetoric
society places very little value on child-rearing
1980 The UN calculates that women do 2/3 of the worlds work for 5-10% of the income and 1% of the assets. The UN holds
its Second Conference for Women in Copenhagen. It is proposed that womens work in the home and on the farm be included in
the GNP. and that the definition of worker be broadened to include women who do such work. These changes are however not
approved
1980- by an amendment to the Income Tax Act in Canada a married man cannot pay his wife to help raise their children but
he can pay her to help run a farm or small business or to do his secretarial work if he is self-employed (The notion of family
relationship precluding monetary transactions is therefore reversed, opening the door to recognizing autonomous nature of
all adults)
1980 In the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of the Child children entitled to love and understanding and an atmosphere
of affection and security in the care and under the responsibility of their parents whenever possible (the focus on family
bonding is inconsistent however with other national movements to encourage only care by third parties)
1980 Dr. Chris Bagley , professor at the University of Calgary proposes an end to daycare funding and instead a payment
directly to parents so they can choose how to raise their children under age 5. His proposals are not implemented
1980- Saskatchewan Federation of Women notes that the present system provides incentives only to go to paid work and does
nothing to ensure the rights of those who would prefer to care for their own children. The federation proposes a child allowance
to match the day-care subsidy.
1980- Roxy Bolton of Florida notes that the current feminist movement has wrongly implied that every woman must work outside
the home. Increasingly a sizeable proportion of women who have remained at home have begun to rail against this diminished
social image of themselves, against what they perceive as unjust discrimination”
1980- the Senate prepares a report entitled Child at Risk finding that the chief predictors of criminality are removed
if a child under age 3 has the same caregiver every day and that caregiver loves the child.
1981 Moge v. Moge A divorced woman who had trouble finding paid work won continuation of support payments. The court
under Justice LHeureux-Dube observed the social forces disadvantaging women after divorce and the impact on the feminization
of poverty. A principle was established at looking not just at equality on paper, but at equality in practice substantive
equality which took into account residential moves, inferior housing, diminished funds for recreation, social dislocation,
loss of familiar networks for emotional support.
1981 Betty Friedan in The Second Stage observes that it is harder than she had thought to balance career and family and
that radical feminists erred in having an anti-family agenda
1985 In Canada the MacDonald Commission recommends a universal income security program (UISP), a guaranteed annual income
for all families . It is not enacted.
1985 The Canada Labor Code was revised to allow up to 24 more weeks parental leave to care for a newborn
1981 Canadian MP Margaret Mitchell in Federal Action for Canada s Children in the 80s suggests that the parent at home
with the child receive tax credits for the job of child-rearing.
1981 Rae Andre in “Homemakers: The Forgotten Workers notes the shift among feminists to now give attention
too both sides of the career-family choice model.
1981 In China Maos communist government wants all women in the paid labor force. Nurseries are collectivized.
1982 Canada suffers form double digit inflation, double digit unemployment and double-digit interest rates. Requests
for more social support for children and those who raise them are responded to with we cant afford it
1982 the Canadian Day Care Advocacy Association is formed to be an effective united voice to pursue daycare issues(eventually
the movement for daycare is relabeled a movement for universal child care though its lobby is only for tax breaks for children
in nonparental care)
1983 the European Federation of Women Working in the Home (FEFAF) is founded with the aim of informing women of their
economic, legal, political and social rights and to create awareness of the needs of children.
1983 Realistic, Equal, Active, for Life of Canada (R.E.A.L. Women) forms as a womens lobby group for equality. (over
the years it becomes associated however not just with the movement to value women;s work in the home but also with right-wing
concerns of anti-gays, anti-abortion and it loses public favor)
1983 the Holy See in The Charter of the Rights of the Family recommends that the work of the mother in the home be recognized
and that there be a family wage so mothers will not be obliged to work outside the home
1983 Federal Minister Responsible for the Status of Women notes that we need to find ways to strengthen the family by
reconsidering benefits for all types of families. (Her words are not acted on)
1984 Mothers Are Women (MAW) forms as a national group to advocate for mothers primarily those who are at home with their
children It ultimately joins NAC the umbrella lobby group, in 1992, and does research on unpaid labor.
1984- the Canadian Labour Force Survey excludes housework or child-rearing as work
1984- 81% of Canadians in a national poll support homemakers be included in the Canada /Quebec Pension Plan (this is
not acted on)
1984 Royal Commission on Equality in Employment recommends a Child Care Act focusing on the needs of women in paid labor
to have childcare. It recommends national standards and adequate pay for daycare workers. (it does not focus on needs of parents
who do not use daycare)
1984 the PC party promises pensions for homemakers but drops this from its election strategy later.
1984 the child dependent credit is $710, but by 1988 is nearly halved to $470 and withdrawn for the poor by making it
a nonrefundable credit. By 1991 it is only $69 for the first child and $138 for the 3rd child and by 1992 is it abolished.
1985- in the Supreme Court the Pelech Trilogy cases find that after a divorce, if the financial circumstance of one party
improves significantly the court may exercise its relieving power, but that otherwise, if there has been an economic pattern
of dependency the obligation to support the former spouse is the communal responsibility of the state.
1985- Section 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is amended to say every individual is equal before and
under the law and has the right to the equal protection and equal benefit of the law without discrimination, and in particular
without discrimination based on race, national or ethnic origin, color, religion, age, sex, or mental or physical disability
(later court challenges find that pregnancy and sexual abuse are also included, as analogous to sex. In the 1990s others
argue that discrimination should also be banned based on economic condition, sexual orientation, marital status or choice
of career. The legal status of unpaid caregivers is questioned under this section in a request for an appeal for a Supreme
Court reference in 2002)
1985 Canadian Advisory Committee on the Status of Women lobbies to get pensions for homemakers but is not successful
1985 - Selma James in The Global Kitchen notes that womens equality must focus on the value of unpaid work. The International
Women Count Network is formed linking 22 nations and 2000 non-government organizations to measure unwaged work.
1985the Quebec government promises to include homemakers in its pension plan (but eventually withdraws this)
1985 - the UN holds its third World Conference on Women in Nairobi asking that unwaged work in agriculture, food production,
reproduction and household activities be included in the GDP of every nation
1985 Janet Swinamer studies unwaged labor in The Value of Household Work in Canada 1981
1985 Daycare is promoted as the real answer to womens liberation and government is encouraged to massively fund it as
its chief childrens strategy. Fredelle Maynard writes The Child Care Crisis The BC human resources ministry alone pays $18.6
million to subsidize daycare for children in that province. Finance Minister Michael Wilson in 1986 reflects the current
federal view that daycare is a cost of earning income, akin to a business expense, in his explanation of why nondaycare parents
are excluded.
1985 the Canadian Master Tax Guide continues its exclusion of childrearing costs incurred by families not using daycare.
Expenses will not qualify if the services are provided by the childs father or mother, any supporting person of the child,
any person under 21 years of age who is connected by blood relationship , marriage or adoption with the taxpayer or his spouse
1986- Statistics Canada conducts its first time-use survey as part of a General Social Survey. (the strategy of noticing
how much unpaid work is done in the country is however divided by gender and some interpret the crisis as simply getting more
men to do housework. The value of unpaid labor is not itself recognized)
1986 a National Child Care Study estimates that unpaid child care is worth over $20 billion dollars in Canada (this is
the amount the state saves by not having to subsidize such care, or the amount families pay out of pocket despite sacrificing
income to provide such care)
1986 Dr. Katie Cooke, heading a Task Force on Child Care, recommends Canada have a universal program of free daycare till
age 12, at an estimated yearly cost to the state of $11 billion. There is no parallel funding recommendation for nondaycare
arrangements.
1986 the UN includes women’s unpaid work in its own system of national accounts
1986 Beth Shaw in Maternal Health News suggests that money be allocated by the state per child, paid monthly to the mother
as mothers income and then used as the parent chose perhaps on daycare, perhaps not
1986 the MacDonald commission recommends a guaranteed minimum income for all, being a basic annual payment of $2750 per
adult under 65, and for the first child of single-parent families, and $750 for other children
1986 the German Democratic Republic and Czechoslovakia start a monthly allowance program for children, with salaries
for mothers of children under age 2
1986 the Ontario minimum wage is $4.45 an our ($9,256 a year) Spousal deduction, or recognition of value of an adult
who does unpaid caregiving is less than half of that.
1987 Kids First Parent Association of Canada forms to lobby government to recognize costs of raising children in or out
of daycare.
Mothers and housewives are the vacationless class - Anne Morrow Lindbergh
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1987- a Special government Committee on Child Care, entitled Sharing the Responsibility recommends daycare moms get $3,000
per child per year credit till age 13 and that mothers in the home get $200 per child per year till the child is 6. (this
policy in fact becomes official, though the benefits for daycare users ultimately increase to $7,000 for young children and
$5,000 for those to age 16. Benefits for parents in the home do not increase)
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