Home: Narratives of Confinement
Objectives
The Challenge:
More than half of women in the workforce are employed in the “5 C jobs” : care, clerical, catering, cashiering and cleaning. Over 90% of nurses and 90% of Personal Support Workers (PSWs) in long-term care homes are women. In addition, women bear the brunt of unpaid care of children and older family members. The COVID-19 pandemic has only magnified the system gender inequalities on the front-lines, in positions of care, and at home.
Transformative Response:
Acknowledging that transformative responses must address the intersectional ways in which women are being impacted by the crisis, this initiative will draw from its extensive community, academic and professional network to facilitate storytelling that invites women to narrate their experiences of confinement and the layers of labour involved in working from home.
Immediate Impact:
This initiative will provide a virtual supportive space, raise awareness, document the stories of women from a range of backgrounds, and gather qualitative data that will support the writing and publication of a policy brief.
Potential for Impact at a Systems Level:
The Family Care Collective will work with its interdisciplinary team of academics, physicians, and community advocates to translate the stories (qualitative data) into formats to advocate for policy change. The intention of the project is to contribute to ‘a new normal’ that reimagines the value of home-based labour, while supporting women as they navigate inequitable systems.
SHIFT Centre for Social Transformation
The SHIFT Centre for Social Transformation assists existing and emerging social transformation initiatives. By uniting the efforts of the Concordia University community and their partners, SHIFT’s goal is to create a more just, inclusive, and broadly prosperous Montreal.