Back in 2000, I was a divorced mom with a 3 year old and a 5 year old. I could often barely make it through the day and that was with school and childcare. Fast forward 20 years, and we are asking this generation of parents to do 24/7 what I could barely juggle 14 hours a day during the work week.
Bear in mind that the charity sector in Canada is disproportionately female who tend also to be a main caregivers for families. Furthermore, the sector already is under-represented in leadership roles by people from racialized communities. So, unless we act quickly and decisively, the talent pool for our sector is about to get a lot smaller which limits our ability to do our work well.
Before we shake our heads and say "that must be hard" and move the conversation on, let's talk about what we can each do to make a difference.
1) You can email or call your Premier's office and ask that all COVID-based decisions include a clear and coherent plan for
Reopening offices without a clear plan and supports for parents and caregivers will simply remove women, single parents, and caregivers from the workforce.
2) As an employer, you can develop flexible work plans for your employees. This may mean having different arrangements with different employees. It is worth noting that a good human resources professional can be helpful here. If you don't have a full-time, dedicated person with this expertise, it is a wise investment to hire some consulting advice on managing this.
3) You can write a letter to your local newspaper. I know that is old fashioned but legacy media is still widely read by political decision makers.
4) You can write or call your MP and ask the Federal Government to take action.
Let's be clear. Unless something changes, then a huge chunk of the charitable sector workforce is going to have trouble staying with us. If that happens, it's not just the individual or one charity that loses. If our talent pool shrinks, Canada loses.
Ann Rosenfield is lucky to have adult children and no caregiving duties. She thinks a diverse charity sector is a strong sector.
