I’ve been thinking about this tweet a lot - why has our political system not assigned the priority it should on childcare and education during this time of crisis?

We know it *is* happening, the next question is: *why* is it happening?

Thread. 1/5 https://twitter.com/ldobsonhughes/status/1280622731315286016?s=20">https://twitter.com/ldobsonhu...

First, too many economists inside and outside of government are still not adequately treating this as a supply side recession, not a demand side recession.

Lack of childcare and lack of schooling are, among other things, massive supply side shocks preventing a recovery. 2/5

Second, the two primary central agencies of government – the apparatus around the Premier/Prime Minister and especially Finance - are conditioned to prioritize economic issues over social issues.

There is no central agency in government prioritizing social issues. 3/5

Third, there is a lack of female First Ministers or Finance Ministers. Of 11 First Ministers, none are women. Of 11 finance ministers, 4 are women (BC, SK, NS, PEI).

That’s 4 of 22 or 18% of First Ministers or Finance Ministers.

This matters... 4/5 https://www.macleans.ca/politics/ottawa/what-conservatives-should-look-for-in-a-new-leader/">https://www.macleans.ca/politics/...

I don’t have big, bold solutions here.

But if recognizing the problem (thanks @ldobsonhughes,
@JenniferRobson8, @tammyschirle, @NishaOttawa and many others) is the first part of the solution, recognizing the source of the problem is surely the second. 5/5

Gonna add this thought from @cbusby_eco to my thread. https://twitter.com/cbusby_eco/status/1280879569176797188?s=20">https://twitter.com/cbusby_ec...