Toward an Inclusive Economy

By Dr. Lorna Read, Managing Director, LEAP Pecaut Centre for Social Impact

As published in Foundation Magazine

Can a post-pandemic economy be an inclusive economy? It can be — if we are prepared to focus our attention on ensuring economic equity for women, specifically those from underserved communities.

It’s no secret that women were the hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. Women lost more jobs, recovered less, and spent more time on unpaid work relative to men. In addition to the losses resulting from unemployment and diminished wages, pandemic-related policies and isolation measures contributed to an increase in domestic violence, greater burdens of domestic and caregiving responsibilities, and reduced access to social support services.

Advancing Women’s Economic Well-Being, a recently published report by LEAP, takes a deep dive into this issue and shows how and why women lost ground during the pandemic. Amongst its findings:

• 800,000 women were removed from the workforce during the peak of the pandemic

• 27 additional hours a week were spent by women on childcare, compared to 13 hours per week for men

• 12x as many mothers than fathers left their jobs for toddlers or school aged children

Women from equity-deserving groups–including those who are racialized, Indigenous, immigrants, low-income, disabled, lone parents and people in the LGBTQ2S+ community–face additional barriers to economic well-being. These segments of the population are more vulnerable to gendered assumptions — rooted in bias and discrimination — of domestic and caregiving responsibilities and professional and political positions.

These are daunting statistics. But while the pandemic changed the way we live and work, it also created an opportunity to reimagine a better future for the close to two million women currently living in poverty in Canada. Now is the time to create a stronger and more equitable economy that strengthens the economic support systems of those women from marginalized communities to pave the way for their full participation in the economy.

Investing in women creates long-term social and economic benefits that have a ripple effect in their communities. Their children’s mental and physical health improves, as does their school performance and future earning potential. Women are more likely to invest in their communities and support local businesses. And ensuring women’s equal participation in the economy is good for the bottom line — data shows that by eliminating the gender wage gap, we can lift Canada’s GDP by $150 billion.

It’s important, when looking at the issue, to recognize that women’s financial security is not just about economics. Advancing Women’s Economic Well-Being demonstrates that this is a complex, multifaceted issue with several interconnected drivers. Addressing women’s economic well-being means addressing the barriers that affect women’s personal stability: access to basic needs and social support, education, the opportunity cost of caregiving, workforce opportunity and societal and institutional norms. To make headway on this issue, we must take a holistic, multi-faceted approach.

We know that right now in Canada there are impactful social ventures who are already working to advance women’s economic security. These organizations have passionate leadership and proven, community-based solutions. Their success is often rooted in deep understanding of cultural and social norms, practices and beliefs. When given the opportunity and resources to scale their reach, these social ventures can multiply their impact and help lift more women out of poverty.

This is where LEAP comes in. LEAP believes that when similarly focused organizations come together — to share learnings and opportunities — they can leverage the power of collaboration to effect broader and more sustainable change.

LEAP’s model of venture philanthropy catalyzes large-scale social impact by supporting and scaling breakthrough social ventures and unleashing the power of collaboration. We have recently launched our latest initiative, The Equity Opportunity, which will select and scale up to 10 high-impact social ventures over the course of five years by providing them with strategic guidance, operational support, coaching and capacity building. To enable their scaling, each social venture will receive pro bono professional services from LEAP’s best-in-class sector partners, and the funds needed to implement their growth strategies. Based on LEAP’s track record, it is anticipated that each social venture will grow between 4x and 10x during the course of the initiative.

The Equity Opportunity will transform societal and institutional norms, strengthen and modernize the social sector and empower women personally and as a collective, which will ultimately lead to systemic change.

To date, The Equity Opportunity has attracted financial support from a number of individual philanthropists and corporations, including BMO Financial Group, Manulife, RBC Foundation, Scotiabank, and TD Bank Group. LEAP and its champions continue to fundraise to support this critical initiative.

On every level, enabling economic independence for women is one of the highest value investments we can make as a society. We know that a return to the pre-pandemic status quo is not good enough. Now is the time to place our collective focus on helping women elevate their economic independence, in a way that reaches as many women as rapidly as possible.