GENDER, CLASS AND THE WELFARE STATE: THE CASE OF CANADIAN UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE

This thesis examines the interaction of gender, class and state forces in the shaping of the Canadian unemployment insurance (UI) program. A major argument is that while changes in women's role and activities constitute one of the most far-reaching transformations since the Second World War their significance both for the changing nature of women's relationship to the state and for the development of welfare state regimes has not adequately been taken into account.; Gender has been central to both the development and restructuring of the welfare state. In the immediate post-war period a male breadwinner family model predominated, within the UI program women did not have equal access to benefits, and decisions of UI administrators encouraged a gendered and unequal labour market. By the early 1970s, a different relationship between family, labour market and state had developed. Women were increasingly active in the paid work force, far greater numbers had access to UI benefits, and the introduction of maternity benefits meant that there was now recognition within state entitlements of women's role as both workers and mothers.; The crisis and restructuring that began in the mid-1970s also had important gender dimensions. This was seen, for example, in the notion of women as secondary workers driving up the unemployment rate and in attempts to restrict benefits for those working in part-time, contingent jobs. Overall, the mobilization for women's rights of the 1970s and 1980s resulted in greater formal equality rights for women and the expansion of maternity entitlements recognizing women's role in the labour force through the child-bearing period. While women's relationship to the state thus changed in important respects, welfare state restructuring also meant a major withdrawal of state support for the unemployed, both men and women. In particular, benefits have been greatly restricted for those outside the full-time, year-round worker model. This has tended to undermine the gender gains that have been made and points to the importance of understanding the interconnectedness of class and gender factors in developing responses that could lead to an improvement in life conditions for both women and men.