Whether access to steady, paid work is the foundation, or a pillar, of social inclusion, can be debated. What is not at issue is that having a job has an immediate and, sometimes, long-lasting effect on children and families, and can exclude them from each other and their community.
“You want to talk ‘Inclusion 101’,” mused Shelley Phipps, “then having an interpreter for my son is it.” Phipps has a profoundly deaf son, and because resources for the hearing impaired are limited in her community, she has on many occasions had to interpret for him “running down basketball courts and soccer fields.”
She also pointed to the fact that unpaid labour is not valued in Canada. “Many of the respondents in our survey [on well-being] were women, stay-at-home mums.” The labour market, she concluded, must recognize the contribution of unpaid labour, rather than continue to value only work that has a dollar amount attached to it. “If we push too hard on the labour market front, then the voluntary sector suffers.”
Andrew Jackson reminded people that people within the labour market can also be excluded, and pointed to the effects too much work has on children. “One in five Canadian fathers work 50 hours or more per week,” he said, “and this affects the time they have to spend with their kids. On average, one hour a day for young children, only 20 minutes for teenagers.” In other words, children of low-income families suffer a poverty of economics, while children of middle- or high-income families are suffering a poverty of time.
“In Canada, the U.S. and the U.K. we have a labour market that has high levels of part-time and contract work.” Other countries have this, too, but add guaranteed hours and benefits to the mix. “We must decide on the type of labour market we want,” Jackson said.
He believes that the right incentives will help governments create useful social policies and programs that address labour market shortcomings. He cited the typical tools such as long-term, meaningful skills training and vocational rehabilitation, but also suggested that community-based economic development be increased. That route typically includes the resources, skills, and expertise of those in both the voluntary sector and the labour market, and responds to a community’s particular needs. It also seems to suggest that since community economic development incorporates, and values, voluntary and paid labour, social inclusion is the natural result.
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