Report: Young Feminist Recovery
Summary Document
Researched in collaboration with the Samuel Centre for Social Connectedness. Read the complete report by Ariana Seferiades Prece here.
Overview
This report, researched in collaboration with the Samuel Centre for Social Connectedness, explores the status of young women and those experiencing gender-based discrimination in the Canadian economy amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. It seeks to capture the unique and intersectional experiences of young leaders nation-wide to examine how varying inequalities can forge layers of disadvantage and barriers to economic agency. The perspectives of research participants were consequently used to fashion policy recommendations to promote a young feminist economic recovery for Canadian society.
Issues: Immediate Impacts
According to the research, the immediate impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic could be felt in three particular ways: the interconnectedness of the pandemic with pre-existing and now exacerbated social dilemmas such as racial injustice; disruption of employment and networking opportunities; and rethinking ecosystems of health and care, including mental health and community care.
To begin, the research found that the experience of the pandemic could not be divorced from major social phenomena playing out on the global stage. Those discussed included the climate crisis and anti-Black police violence including the death of George Floyd. The report describes this overlapping of crises as an opportunity to examine how injustice can be co-produced. Youth shared that the overlap of crises “caused a lot of suffering, pain, and anger” during an already isolating period, highlighting the systemic inequalities that were influencing both the physical violence felt by racialized communities at the hands of police, and the systematic inequalities faced throughout the pandemic by marginalized communities (15). The report calls for further inquiry into the relationships of these power dynamics to better understand the lived experiences of young leaders during and post-pandemic.
“The report calls to create better jobs for young leaders including paid internships, higher minimum wage, and better attempts to integrate disabled young leaders in the job market. ”
Secondly, the research speaks to the juncture of employment and income-security during the pandemic. The report claims “over 60% of the research participants reported to have suffered from some kind of disruption to employment” while “nearly all the research participants underwent financial stress” (16). These impacts, however, were experienced differently for those already living on low incomes or with greater financial costs such as childcare. This was also particularly felt by those who lost employment in the service industry, a direct consequence of the health and economic impact COVID-19 had on businesses and consequently their workers (17). The rural ‘Digital Divide’ was also addressed as a key impediment during the pandemic to secure stable income without equal access to the internet (17). Furthermore, many young leaders could not afford to undertake unpaid internships at the time due to the financial stress of the pandemic – systematically depriving many youth from career development opportunities on the basis of their finances (18). Career development via networking was also adversely impacted (18). One participant explained that while completing an internship that shifted online due to the pandemic, they fell out of the necessary “close proximity to decision-makers” to build one’s network for future work and career investment (18). The report ultimately found that “over 30% of the research participants reported not having fully recovered from the pandemic” still, attempting to secure consistent and stable income (17).
Thirdly, the report examined the ‘centrality of care’ in lived experiences of the pandemic. Experiences of mental health issues felt during the pandemic were reported by over 80% of the interviewees, alongside sentiments of deep isolation without access to networks of support systems such as friends, family, and community (19-20). Although some found positives to this ‘pause’ including exploring therapy and emotional boundaries, many, especially rural-residing young leaders, reported immense isolation and detachment (21).
Issues: Agency of Young Leaders in a Feminist Economic Recovery
Core to this report is envisioning a feminist economic recovery that is transformative, stepping away from mainstream applications of economics to instead acknowledge structural violence towards minorities and promote equity for all. Fundamental to such a reconceptualization is centering the agency of young women and those navigating gender-based discrimination in this economic renewal.
“Tackling ageism and gender bias directly is essential to operationally include young leaders beyond mere tokenism”
Barriers : Intrinsic to a feminist economic recovery is valuing young leaders for their decision-making capacity and empowering their agency to enact change in their communities. There are numerous barriers to such an ideal, however. Firstly, there is a gap in information of what opportunities exist for young leaders to participate in their communities. One participant shared, “Where do I go? How do I find how to be involved? I don't know how to go out and ensure that I, and people like me, are taken into account” (27). Without sufficient information about avenues for contributing to their communities, young leaders’ expertise is untapped, and policy remains under-informed.
Part of this lack of information results from a failure of current leaders and decision-makers to actively seek young leaders’ input. Research participants shared that “it should not be solely the responsibility of young people to find ways to access those spaces” especially when they lack the resources to do so; rather to feel valued in their opinions and input it is essential that institutional leaders reach out to young women and those experiencing gender-based discrimination to learn from each other and formulate inclusive and equitable change.
The aforementioned lack of resources is a third barrier the report explores, as oftentimes when opportunities are present for ‘youth councils’ and board positions, they are unpaid resulting in differing opportunity costs based on the differing financial circumstances of young leaders. The report also examines age-based bias towards young people with gross misconceptions that they lack valuable experience to draw from when providing input. The report challenges this conception as falling prey to traditional neoliberal economics that conceptualizes productivity and expertise in one specific way.
This ties into the final barrier analyzed of insufficient safe spaces for young leaders to participate. Where young leaders may bring their lived experiences to the table, oftentimes they are not valued. A transformative economic recovery requires nuancing lived experience as a valid and essential source of data. Moreover, the lack of data to corroborate these anecdotes should be understood as a consequence of under-researching minority communities’ experiences’ rather than an invalid data point to begin with (29). The tendency to further generalize and exclude the experiences of diverse young leaders contributes to further harm in economic policies.
“There is also a need to sponsor, mentor, and help develop the careers of young leaders... so that young leaders are equipped to meaningfully contribute to their communities. ”
Youth in Decision-Making: Dismantling the barriers explored above requires valuing young leaders’ decision-making capacity and autonomy. This includes requiring their participation on boards while ensuring diversity in the representation of young leaders across intersectional identities such as class, race and (dis)ability. The report argues that there are tendencies for bias “towards upper-middle class folks” when there is a need to hear from more under-represented voices (26). Seeking out young people to share their voices provides the necessary foundation for youth to feel their opinions are desired and will be integrated in the outputs they are providing labour for. The report specifically calls for the need to include young leaders in Covid-19 recovery measures as there is a current “lack of participatory mechanisms to ensure youth voices are included in the process” (24). Tackling ageism and gender bias directly is essential to operationally include young leaders beyond mere tokenism. Many young leaders already have enacted change on their own, starting their own organisations, protests, community-care networks and more – the power of collective action they bring to the table is explored as a benchmark for current decision-makers to learn from and tap into to reconceptualize a more inclusive and feminist economic recovery.
Moving Forward: Envisioning a Feminist Economic Recovery & Recommendations
The report finds that young leaders envision a feminist economic recovery in the following ways. More than half of respondents outlined “mental health as a staple of a feminist economic recovery” as the current approach is flawed and now more than ever is there a greater social consciousness regarding mental health to be considered through an intersectional lens across social strata (33). Participants reported a feminist recovery requires reframing productivity as a consequence of the ‘new normal’ of working. Young leaders shared the “importance of re-organizing labor relations to have more flexible working arrangements that recognize the additional unpaid roles they likely have” i.e. caregivers and community-builders and value their multiple essential roles in the economy (34). There is also a need to sponsor, mentor, and help develop the careers of young leaders. This requires building more mentorship and skill-building opportunities so that young leaders are equipped to meaningfully contribute to their communities. Participants encouraged further investment in building relationships of care and trust with communities so that better decisions can be made with the input of those most affected and with grounded knowledge on relevant issues. Finally, over 30% relayed the importance of advancing a sustainable environment in economic recovery including decolonizing climate discourse and building on existing Indigenous knowledge-systems of stewardship.
The report ultimately concludes with further recommendations for policymakers moving forward. It calls for the continued use of intersectional analyses of policymaking. It also calls for further investment in the care economy including the need for a federal national strategy to improve care economy conditions including in infrastructure, quality of service, workers’ wages, and supporting unpaid caregivers. The report calls to create better jobs for young leaders including paid internships, higher minimum wage, and better attempts to integrate disabled young leaders in the job market. Active engagement with communities by all levels of government through formal channels of communication and better funding for local organisations serving those navigating gender-based discrimination is also recommended.
About the Author
Fora acknowledges the support of Women and Gender Equality Canada.
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