Sociology

Equality seems to be pretty hard on Quebec women

When it comes to the status of women, Quebec is an egalitarian society. But some societies seem to be more equal than others. “There’s no doubt that we’ve made progress, but we’re still far behind Scandinavian societies,” explains Université de Montréal sociologist Paul Bernard.

Prof. Bernard conducted a comparative study in collaboration with his master’s student, Sophie Mathieu who is pursuing her doctoral studies at Carleton University. The research report lays out four types of societies, from the most egalitarian to the least, in terms of social and family policies. Southern European countries rank last despite the fact that their societies are family-based. In reality, women hold fewer jobs in this region than anywhere else in the world, despite new generations trying to change the old ways. One notch up is continental Europe, where researchers refer to societies of ‘temporary women workers’. The researchers stress that, here, “women mostly work part time or stop working to care for dependent family members”.

Liberal societies, particularly the United States, Australia and Canada, are next on the list. Although women have carved out a place in the workforce, social policy has not come kept pace. According to the researchers, “Liberal societies are interested in putting as many people as possible to work in order to create a prosperous society. The paradox is that even though women are in the game, nothing is being done to help them with the non-professional aspects of their lives.” American women, for example, are only entitled to 60 months of social benefits, and that’s over the course of their entire lifetime. “In this respect, Quebec is clearly more progressive,” states the report.

But when it comes to public policy, Scandinavian countries get top billing. “Social movements quickly joined forces with the State and adopted concrete measures. And it’s been working for decades,” explains Paul Bernard.

In fact, the more the State invests in high-quality public services, the more women can delegate such responsibilities as looking after children and caring for the elderly, so that they can devote themselves to their work and participating in the economy. Along the same lines, all of these services require a large, predominantly female workforce which, in turn, creates quality jobs for other women. But helping individuals does not mean doing things for them. “The idea is to adopt pro-active measures. Everyone has a role to play. For instance, the unemployed receive training instead of benefits—a system that leads to a kind of virtuous circle,” adds Paul Bernard.

But can Quebec adopt these kinds of measures? “Yes, provided that all government departments work together on various aspect’s of an individual’s life course,” explains Prof. Bernard. “In order to help women and families, we have to look at poverty, violence, the role of men, in other words, society as a whole. Quebec is innovative in this area, and it must be able to meet this new challenge.”