Driven Apart
Driven Apart
Women's Employment Equality and Child Care in Canadian Public Policy
Annis May Timpson demonstrates how Canadian women’s calls for family-friendly employment policies have translated into inaction or inappropriate action on the part of successive federal governments. She focuses on debates, public inquiries, and policy evolution during the Trudeau, Mulroney, and Chrétien eras, contextualizing these developments with a discussion of the changing patterns of women’s employment since the Second World War. Drawing on a wealth of interviews and close analysis of primary documents, Driven Apart explains why federal governments have been able to implement employment equity policies but have failed to develop a national system of child care.
Driven Apart was selected as an Outstanding Academic Title by CHOICE and was awarded The Pierre Savard Prize by the International Council for Canadian Studies.
Awards
- 2002, Winner - CWSA Book Prize, Canadian Women's Studies Association
- 2002, Winner - Outstanding Academic Title, Choice Magazine
- 2002, Winner - Pierre Savard Prize, International Council for Canadian Studies
[A] meticulously researched and engagingly written book ... Those interested in Canadian politics and administration should find this book as illuminating as those interested in employment policy and in policy issues differentially affecting women.
An insightful account of an intriguing public policy puzzle ... Timpson has made a significant contribution to our understanding of the particular histories of federal employment equity and child care policies and of the potentials and limitations of royal commissions. Her analysis will be of keen interest to those seeking to understand the dynamic interaction between social movements and the state, as well as the public policy process more generally.
A fascinating look at issues of women and work in Canada. Essential reading for anyone who wonders how a massive influx of women into paid work failed to produce a national child care program. Annis May Timpson’s careful analysis of developments to date sets the benchmark for measuring public policy – or its absence – in this crucial area.
Well researched and fascinating ... While feminist activists have always been aware of the connection between issues of production and reproduction, bureaucrats and politicians have created separate policies for the two arenas. Annis May Timpson explains why the separation developed and links her findings to central questions of the public/private divide. This book is essential reading for policy analysts, government officials, and students of Canadian politics, and offers new insight into relationships between citizens and their state.
Tables
Preface
Acknowledgments
Abbreviations
1. The Double-Edged Nature of Women's Employment Inequality
2. Citizenship, Motherhood, and Employment in the Wartime and Welfare States
3. The Royal Commission on the Status of Women
4. A Just Society? The Trudeau Government’s Response to the Royal Commission on the Status of Women
5. Redefining the Issues: Systemic Discrimination and National Child Care Policies in Trudeau’s Final Term
6. The Royal Commission on Equality in Employment
7. Breaking the Links: The Mulroney Government’s Response to the Royal Commission on Equality in Employment
8. Tiny Timid Steps: Employment Equity and Child Care in Mulroney’s Second Term
9. Creating Opportunity? The Chrétien Government’s Approach to Employment Equity and Child Care
10. Linked Together, Yet Driven Apart
Appendices
A. Research Interviews
B. Turning Points in Canadian Policy Development on Women's Employment Equality and Child Care
Notes
Bibliography
Index
