Work and family policy in Canada - Family needs, collective solutions

Canada has a complex web of social and economic policies that have an impact on family members' abilities to manage the interface between work and family life. This article reviews existing work and family policy in Canada and identifies problems many Canadians experience in struggling to meet the competing demands of work and family life. Using Eichler's models of the family (patriarchal, individual responsibility, and social responsibility) and three conceptual models of the relationship between work and family (separate sphere, spillover effects, and interactive), implicit assumptions about the family and the nature of the work-family relationship underlying Canadian policy are discussed. It is argued that one of the reasons existing policy does not fully meet the needs of Canadians is that it is based on outdated assumptions about the family and the nature of the work-family interface. Recommendations for policy reform are offered.