Building Back Better: “Rethinking social protection and the care economy”

Credit:School of Policy Studies, Queen’s University

For many, one of the greatest challenges of the pandemic lockdown has been the juggling of work and care – care for children, family members with special needs, and/ or the elderly. The crisis has shed light on the responsibility challenges families face at the best of times and the often unequal burden of care provision. The crisis has also sharpened the divide between the “have and have-nots” in our societies, whether it is in access to quality care for children, people with disabilities or the elderly. It has also demonstrated the particular vulnerabilities of the caregivers, often racialized and immigrant women, in both the formal and informal sectors, at home or in institutions. Can the pandemic lead societies to design stronger systems of social protection and stronger valuation of those who provide the care?

Speakers:

Andrea Doucet, Professor and Canada Research Chair in Gender, Work and Care, Brock University

Ito Peng, Professor and Canada Research Chair in Global Social Policy, University of Toronto

Samir Sinha, Director of Geriatrics, Mount Sinai and the University Health Network Hospitals

Moderator: Janet Menard, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services, Ontario