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But let’s not haul out the brass bands and ticker tape parades just yet: Many of the pandemic’s side effects continue to mount, particularly for the country’s youth – in particular young women – who are suffering increased anxiety, depression and stress. And the longer the pandemic has dragged on, the higher the levels of stress and anxiety have gone up.
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So reports a new poll by Pollara Strategic Insights in partnership with The Prosperity Project, a volunteer driven, not-for-profit organization made up of female leaders from across Canada whose mandates include bringing awareness of the economic importance of gender equality to the forefront, and to ensure women’s employment needs are factored into the Covid-19 recovery period.
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TORONTO, April 12, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) A diverse group of Canada’s leaders are saying the time has come to view the absence of early childhood education and care as a Canada-wide emergency and are asking the federal government to get on with the business of fixing it.
In an open letter to Minister Freeland, six other federal ministers and Opposition Leaders, signed by public policy and business leaders from across the country, The Prosperity Project is calling for the introduction of a Canada-wide early learning and childcare (ELCC) system to address the needs of working families, citing multiple research studies that show women are exiting the workforce due to the pressures of the pandemic. Joining the Prosperity Project to support this call are Business Council of Canada CEO Goldy Hyder, the Hon. Margaret McCain and Children First Canada Founder Sara Austin.
The Canadian Press, with files from staff
Canadian working mothers are reporting increased mental-health concerns one year into the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new survey by The Prosperity Project and CIBC.
The survey found more than half of working mothers felt stressed, while 47 per cent felt anxious and 43 per cent felt depressed. Working mothers worried about their children’s safety and helping them with schoolwork and felt guilty about not spending enough time with them, according to the survey. And during the pandemic’s second wave, women were more likely to consider quitting their job, asking for reduced working hours or taking a position with different working conditions.
Winnipeg Free Press Anxious, stressed and depressed.
Those are just some of the words Canada’s working women are using to describe their deteriorating mental health, as COVID-19 continues to persist.
A new cross-country tracking poll by the Prosperity Project and CIBC found women are much more likely than men to feel the mental toll of the pandemic’s second wave compared to the first, while also bearing the brunt of their household finances and worrying about repaying debts.
These feelings are even higher among working mothers, who reported experiencing higher levels of stress (at 52 per cent), anxiety (47 per cent) and depression (43 per cent), compared to working women without children (at 36, 38 and 29 per cent, respectively). In working fathers, stress levels were at 37 per cent, anxiety at 40 per cent and depression at 27 per cent.