Friday, March 15, 2024

Tracy Au's writing- my 20s (Part 1)

Oct. 29, 2021 My 20s: I turned 20 in Aug. 2005.

My 20s is 2005-2015.


This is from my Oct. 2021 blog post: 


"I am part of the problem" (Morgan Spurlock)/ "Singer Ryan Adams accused of inappropriate behaviour with aspiring musicians"


Feb. 14, 2019 "Singer Ryan Adams accused of inappropriate behaviour with aspiring musicians": Today I found this article on CBC news:


(Mandy) Moore, one of the stars of NBC's award-winning series This Is Us, burst on the scene as a teen singer and had musical success in the late '90s and early 2000s.

She claimed Adams stalled her music career and told her, "You're not a real musician, because you don't play an instrument."

"His controlling behaviour essentially did block my ability to make new connections in the industry during a very pivotal and potentially lucrative time — my entire mid-to-late 20s," the 34-year-old Moore said to the Times.

Tracy's blog: "I am part of the problem" (Morgan Spurlock)/ "Singer Ryan Adams accused of inappropriate behaviour with aspiring musicians" (badcb.blogspot.com)


TV writer and producer career:

2006-2008: 20-22 yrs old.  I went to Professional Communication at MacEwan and graduated.

2008-2012: 22-27 yrs old.  I tried to be a TV writer and producer and pitched my script to every TV production company in Canada.

2013-2014: 28-29 yrs old.  I pitched my script, but to a lesser extent.



Jobs and Office career:

2006-2008: I worked at regular jobs like restaurants, stores, and call centres.  

The summer of 2007 was bad, because I was let go from 2 places and I quit 4 places.

2008-2010: I worked at the Soup place for 2 yrs.  That was one of the best jobs I ever had.

2010-2012: I worked at the Hotel Restaurant job mostly part time.  

I was reading the business section of 3 newspapers like 6 days a week.  

I was on the internet looking and applying for jobs for 1-2 hrs a day. 

I was running around town attending job interviews as an administrative assistant/ receptionist.

Nov. 21, 2021 Post Secret: 

Classic secret:





Oct. 8, 2023 Classic secrets:


My opinion: I was looking into 1 or 2 yr programs at NAIT and MacEwan.  I wasn't really that good in school.  


Oct. 29, 2023 Classic secrets:


My opinion: This depends on what the college program or college is.  You can:

- research the college program

- go to the open house

- be a student- for- a- day and attend the program for a day

Then when you actually get there and attend the school, you may realize that this is not what you want.

I recommend you attend "student- for- a- day".  I attended the Baking program at NAIT and learned that I shouldn't go into this.

This is the Oct. 2013 blog post:


baking/ inflation/ match.com






Sept. 26, 2022: These 2 blog posts are the Cole's Notes version of my 20s:


This is from the Oct. 2021 blog post:



Tracy's ideal life (as a TV writer & producer, Actor, Office Career) vs. Tracy's real life (Part 1)





This is from the Nov. 2021 blog post:


Tracy's ideal life vs. Tracy's real life (Part 2)/ "Missing Out: In Praise of the Unlived Life" by Adam Phillips





Tracy's ideal life (as a TV writer & producer, Actor, Office Career) vs. Tracy's real life (Part 1)

Sept. 23, 2021 Tracy's real life in an Office Career: I was writing for another email/ blog post, but I will post this here: 

 Apr. 14, 2021 Learning curve:


1. Jobs, careers, and business: In 2010-2012, I read the business section of the newspapers of the Edmonton Journal, the Globe and Mail, and the National Post for 6 days a week.

I felt like I went from a gr. 6 education to a gr. 12 education by how much I learned in 2010-2012.

My family stopped subscribing to the National Post in Apr. 2013.

2010 The Year of Unemployment: I got laid off from the Soup place in Mar. 2010.  In Apr.-Sept, I was looking for a job.

The results:

I got hired at Call Centre #4 and worked there for a day.  The boss let me go because 9 completed surveys wasn't good enough.

I got hired at Call Centre #5 and worked there for 2 days. The boss let me go because I only raised $75 for charities.  This is more like telemarketing.  I didn't like working there.

In Oct. I got hired at the Furniture Store and worked there for 2 weeks.

I was let go.  I then got hired at my 1st Restaurant job and stopped looking for a job. 

In my best estimate, I probably went to 5 job interviews a month, so 30 job interviews that year.

2011 The Year of the Office Job Search: 60 job interviews

The results: I attended mostly administrative assistant/ receptionists job interviews.  I got hired at a 2 week temp holiday job at the Fruit Place.

2012 The Year of New Directions: 58 job interviews

The results: I attended mostly administrative assistant/ receptionists job interviews.  I got hired at 2 telemarketer jobs where I call people to sell tickets to theatre plays and concerts.  I was let go at each place because I didn't sell any tickets.

I worked at a door-to-door sales job where I sold the Edmonton Sun newspaper subscriptions.  I sold 5 on the first day.  The way they paid you was that you had to work all 4 days and then you can get paid for the all the subscriptions you sold.

I went there for a day and I didn't like it.  I quit, and I didn't get paid.  That's okay that I didn't get paid.



In 2013 The Year of the Office Job: I got the Office Job and worked there for 5 months.  The Year of the Office Job.  All the work I did from reading the business section of the newspapers and attending job interviews prepared me for this.

In 2014 The Year of Education and Research: I attended a semester at MacEwan Office Assistant program with a Business Communication class and a Computer class. 

In 2015 The Year of the Office Job and Dating (and Decluttering): I worked at the Home Installation Place for 3 months.

In 2015-2019: I was reading the business section of the newspapers and attending job interviews.

In 2020: I was mainly looking for a work from home job on the internet.  There were a few interviews.  I read the business section on the internet.


I read the business section of the Edmonton Journal and the Globe and Mail until Sept. 2018.

My family stopped subscribing to the Globe and Mail until Sept. 2018.

My family stopped subscribing to the Edmonton Journal in Feb. 2019.

I still read the business section on the internet.

Now I feel like I'm in post secondary education with job education.

Education: Reading the business section of the newspapers.

Experience: Attending job interviews all around town.

Tracy's blog: Tracy's ideal life (as a TV writer & producer, Actor, Office Career) vs. Tracy's real life (Part 1) (badcb.blogspot.com)


Sept. 26, 2022 My opinion: 


Reading the newspaper: I think I read too much of the newspaper from 2010- 2014. 

However, I don't regret reading too much because I learned about jobs, careers, and business.

I also read TV and movie reviews, book reviews, and author interviews, and learned a lot about writing.  This is fun to read.

I read the current events and know what's going on in my city, country, and the world.


Feb. 16, 2024: On Mon. and Tues, I would read about 2 hrs of the newspapers.  On Wed- Sat. that's like 3 hrs.

I would have to say 3 hrs a day x 7 days= 21 hrs a week of reading.

This is good education where I learned a lot about jobs and business.  These are well- written articles and is helpful information to help me get a job.

Did you see all the job articles I posted on my blog since Jan. 2015?

I posted a lot of book reviews and author interviews from Sept. - Dec. 2014.


Attending job interviews: I attended like 5 job interviews a month.  It can take like 30 min. to get there.  Attend the interview.  I then go home.  It can take up to 2 hrs of waiting for the bus and riding on it, so I read the newspaper.


The commute to my job: This is especially to my Hotel Restaurant job where I have to take 1 bus and 1 hr ride to get there and 1 hr to get home.  I read the news.

I'm sure some of you are like: "My commute is productive too because I listen to the news and podcasts."


Sept. 26, 2022:

Writing on the blog: I wrote too much for my blog.  From 2008-2009, I wrote 2 blog posts a week.

In 2010-Aug. 2014, I wrote 3 blog posts a week.

I don't regret writing so much.  The point of the blog is to show my writing talent and skills.

I like to write.  It can be fast and easy.

I watch a lot of TV shows and movies, read the news, live my daily life, and then I write about it. 

In Sept. 2014, I stopped writing for my blog.  I started copying and pasting news articles on my blog, bold parts I like, and write a comment.


Feb. 9, 2024: Now I like to say that I write a lot.  I have a lot to say.  I read and learn so much from reading the news and watching TV (where I learn about screenwriting.).  

I want to write and post what I learned.

My daily life experiences are mainly job interviews, where I meet potential bosses and co- workers, and to different parts of city.


Feb. 16, 2024: My estimate is that I may take like 1 hr to write a blog post.

3 blog posts x 1 hr= 3 hrs a week.


Sept. 26, 2022 2006: The Year of Anger Management: I'm 21 yrs old. I got laid off from Call Centre #1 and developed an anger management problem.  I quit watching Dr. Phil and Maury Povich.  

In the fall, I got into Professional Writing at MacEwan.

2007: The Year of MacEwan: I'm 22 yrs old and a full- time student.


May 7, 2023 TV writing: I learned a lot about TV writing when I sending my scripts out and I got feedback from TV writers and producers, and the EPL Writer's in Residences on my scripts.

When I was a kid and teen, I was watching a lot of TV and reading books, and that's how I learned about writing.


Apr. 30, 2023 Inner work and outer work:


Job search: I spend a lot of time on this.  This is like a hobby and/ or job.


Inner work: 

1. Reading the business news


Outer work: 

1. Reading the business news

2. Applying to jobs

3. Attending job interviews



Sept. 15, 2023: I'm proud of my 20s.  It was productive and this was the foundation of learning about jobs and careers.

I did what I wanted to do:

1. I graduated out of college.

2. I tried to become a TV writer and producer for 5 years by pitching my script to TV production companies in Canada.

3. I worked at jobs that I like at restaurants and call centres.

4. I had office careers when I worked at the Office Job in 2013 and the Home Installation Place in 2015.  

5. I learned so much about jobs, careers, and business in 2010-2012.  I continue to read the business news and the news after this.  This is continuous learning.  


What I didn't do:

1. I didn't spend all my 20s in college because I didn't study: medicine, law, dentistry, or veterinarian school.

I wasn't interested in those programs or would have gotten in.

2. I didn't really party.

I still had fun spending time with friends and family, watching TV, reading the news, writing on my blog, and shopping.

3. I didn't have kids, because I never wanted to have kids.  They're a lot of work.


Nov. 21, 2023 Professional growth: I felt like I did 90% of this with:

- working at my jobs

- reading the business news

- looking for a job and attending job interviews

-pitching my script to TV production companies in Canada and trying to get into TV production


Personal growth: 10%

Anger management


Nov. 12, 2023 The preview of my 30s: This was the start of my 30s, and it continued.

2015: The Year of the Office Job and Dating (and Decluttering)



This week's 2 blog posts:


"Opinion: Canadian women want more children than they're having"/ "Flexible work 'game changer' in advancing career opportunities for women: Perpetual Energy CEO"




"Child care keeping women out of workforce despite COVID rebound: Report"/ "Not just a glass ceiling: Working moms on the 'maternal wall' that can stall careers"




My week:



Sun. Mar. 10, 2024 "It's nearly impossible to find a place to rent. But retirement homes have room to spare": Today I found this article by Brandie Weikle on CBC.  This is a positive news because people can have a place to live and there is intergenerational living:





Sat. Mar. 9, 2024 Does anyone have a micro USB cable wire that I can have for free or cheap?:
Do you have a micro USB cable wire like this:
Thanks.


Today I went to Capilano to find the wire:

Dollarama: $3.25-4.75 

Shoppers Drug Mart: $30 

Wal- Mart: $13.99

I went to Wal-Mart to buy chips and snack cakes.

Doritos Sweet Chili Heat: This is not too spicy.  I like this this and may buy this again.

Doritos Sweet and Tangy BBQ: "   "

Vachon Passion Flakie- Maple:  Limited edition.  This is good with syrup and icing in it.  Good.

Vachon Passion Flakie- Apple Raspberry: This has the jelly with icing in it.  Good.


The Source: I called the City Centre location and the wire's $14.99.


Mon. Mar. 11, 2024: I stopped by The Source at City Centre.  One wire which is really long is $34.99.  

The cheapest wire is VITAL for $6.98.

I bought the VITAL wall charger (a box charger with a separate micro USB wire) for $20.  However, the wire started falling apart and it stopped working.

I didn't do anything to it, but it frayed within the first year that I bought this.  I shouldn't buy the VITAL wire.

I did have a USB wire in my home so I used that.

I have 5 chargers in my home office. 2 of them were micro USB chargers and were for cell phones. They can charge the tablet.

The tablet battery: I tried the 2 chargers, and they charge the tablet.  However, the tablet's battery energy runs out really fast.  I need a new battery.


Mar. 13, 2024 Leo opinion: 

Abraham R. from Winnipeg, MB, would like to know:

Should Daylight Saving Time still exist?

No    65.69% (5708)



Yes    34.31% (2981)


My opinion: No.



City Centre:

T- Kettle closed down.

Country Chic closed down.  The store sold locally made home decor and jewelry.


Wed. Mar. 13, 2024 Bredin Centre resume help: I set up an appointment because I wanted help to create a good resume.  

One woman there R looked at my resume and changed it.  I applied to over 100 places with that resume and I didn't get any call backs.

There is general and specific help.  I went there and I talked to S and she helped and typed up this resume for me.  She asked: "What were your duties?"  

I'm going to apply to places with this resume.  She then told me about a job fair tomorrow.

Thurs. Mar. 14, 2024 Edmonton Expo Job Fair: I attended this.  This is from 10am-2pm.  I got there at 10:14 am, and there were 50 people lined up.  The line moved fast I go in after a 10 min. wait.

I passed my resume to 2 places.  There were places that I wasn't qualified for, or not interested in.  


"Child care keeping women out of workforce despite COVID rebound: Report"/ "Not just a glass ceiling: Working moms on the 'maternal wall' that can stall careers"

I'm posting this in honor of International Women's Day which is Mar. 8.


Jun. 6, 2023 "Child care keeping women out of workforce despite COVID rebound: Report": Today I found this article by Holly McKenzie-Sutter on BNN Bloomberg:


Canadian women’s employment has rebounded since the losses of the early COVID-19 pandemic, but workforce gaps between women and men persist and child care is a significant sticking point, according to a new report.

Authors of the C.D. Howe Institute report titled ‘Juggling Act: Women, Work and Closing the Gaps with Men’ recommended flexible work options and accessible, affordable child care as options to help address Canada’s workplace gender imbalance.

“Reducing disparities in gender participation and employment rates and encouraging women to work in in-demand and high-paying jobs 

would help mitigate aging’s impact on 

Canada’s labour force growth, 

address labour and skills shortages, 

and strengthen the economy,” 

Tingting Zhang, one of the report’s authors, said in written statement.

“This requires encouraging greater labour force participation and removing employment barriers for women who wish to work, especially older women and those with children.”


COVID ‘SHE-CESSION’


The report, released Tuesday, looked at Canadian women’s labour force participation before and after the pandemic.

During Canada’s “deepest, but also shortest downturn on record” from March to the end of April 2020, 

women’s employment in the country fell by more than 17.6 per cent, seeing more than 1.6 million women leave the workforce. 

Job losses were more significant for women than men because they disproportionately worked in sectors affected by COVID-19 shutdowns like the service industry, tourism, education and child care. 

Women are also more likely to take on caregiving duties, the report noted.

Child care was a major factor in the gender employment patterns. The biggest decline in labour participation was among women with school-aged children, and the gender employment gap was largest for parents with young children.

Women’s employment had bounced back and made a full recovery by September 2021. As of February, women’s employment had exceeded February 2020 levels by five per cent. 

Women had also switched into different industries, with fewer women working in food services and accommodation, and more in professional and technical services – “however, these shifts did not make a significant improvement in industrial and occupational gender imbalances” compared 2019.


PERSISTENT GAPS

Despite improvements since the employment losses of 2020, the researchers noted lasting gaps in employment statistics between Canadian women and men.

It noted that the employment gap has narrowed over the last several decades, but women’s labour force participation has “plateaued” since the beginning of the 21st  century.

Women’s employment rose to 62 per cent in the early 2000s from 45.7 per cent in the 1970s. 

But women’s participation rate was stuck at 61.5 per cent in 2022, and the labour force participation gap between genders was at eight percentage points in 2022.

The participation gap is largest for women aged 55 and older, according to the report.

 Women are also overrepresented in the part-time workforce, 

and child care remains a barrier to full-time work.

Among women who aren’t working, personal and family responsibilities have been cited as a main reason keeping them out of the workforce, 

and women working part time reported that child care was the main reason they are not able to work full time.

There is also a large workplace participation gap between men and women between the ages of 25 and 54 with children. The gap is largest at 18.4 percentage points for people who have children aged five years old and younger.

However, the report highlighted “good news” as there were noticeable improvements for working mothers in 2022, and cited research from the Bank of Canada that suggested federal policies with universal child-care targets helping more mothers enter the workforce.

The “child-care factor” keeping part-time employed women from full-time jobs was lowest in Quebec, which has had subsidized child care since 1997, 

“highlighting the role of accessing affordable child care in women’s employment decisions.”


RECOMMENDATIONS: CHILD CARE, FLEXIBLE WORK AND STEM TRAINING

The C.D. Howe researchers zeroed in on three recommended areas to boost women’s workforce participation: 

flexible work arrangements, 

affordable and accessible child care 

and skills training to bring women into STEM fields and trades.

They noted that labour shortages have been challenging efforts to scale up affordable child-care offerings across Canadian provinces, and recommended funding to raise wages for early childhood educators in order to attract and retain them in the field. 

It also suggested employers offer workplace-based child care to attract more woman workers.

Flexible work arrangements 

like remote work 

and flexible hours 

would also help retain women, the report said, and help people in caregiving roles thrive in the workplaces. 

It would also help improve employment numbers for older women who may want to work reduced hours, the report added, which could be a boon to businesses looking to fill job vacancies.

“It is important to continue applying a gender lens to designing social programs and labour market policy, post-pandemic,” the report said. 

“Investments in the labour market outcomes of women are essential to Canada’s continuous prosperity and inclusive growth.”

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/child-care-keeping-women-out-of-workforce-despite-covid-rebound-report-1.1929386


Mar. 8, 2024 "Not just a glass ceiling: Working moms on the 'maternal wall' that can stall careers": Today I found this article by Tara Deschamps on BNN Bloomberg:

When Grace Adeniyi-Ogunyankin went into labour with her second child early, she was in the middle of grading her students' work.

“My closest friend was telling me to go to the hospital. My partner was like, ‘Let’s go to the hospital,’ but I’m like, ‘No, I have to finish this because once I have this baby, I don’t know how I’m going to do it,’” the Queen's University associate professor recalled.

“This is how wild it can be sometimes because you don’t want to feel like oh, I’m not doing my work.”

Adeniyi-Ogunyankin’s insistence on finishing her marking despite being on the cusp of one of her family's most important moments was a product of the pressure she and other women feel when juggling motherhood and their careers.

The challenges they encounter form what some call a "maternal wall:" the ways that negative perceptions of mothers in the workforce can block opportunities for career advancement.

For many, the maternal wall crops up when employers and peers start to doubt their ability to do their jobs because they're also raising kids.

A 2023 report from international non-profit Mothers in Science found one-third of women working in the sciences while raising children had their competence questioned by employers and colleagues after becoming a parent.

But the phenomenon is not contained to a particular field.

"It's shocking how prevalent it is," said Allison Venditti, founder of advocacy group Moms at Work.

You might assume there would be less of it in areas like health care, which have historically employed a higher number of women, but there are examples of it everywhere, she said.

It even affects women who aren't pregnant and don't have kids, Venditti said, because many see them as a "breeding horse" as soon they hit the typical child-bearing years.

"People are looking at you going, 'I wonder when she's going to have a kid,'" Venditti said.

"I've had conversations with the human resources person when people are looking at layoffs and whatever and they're like, 'Well, how many more good years does she have left?'"

If women have kids, Venditti said they are frequently become the "default" for childcare and housework, but their employers often view these responsibilities as a distraction from work. If the demands of child-rearing become too steep, mothers are commonly expected to put their careers aside.

"When couples are having these discussions about whose job to protect ... they're focusing on the person who's making more money and that is predominantly men," Venditti said.

Statistics Canada found women between the ages of 25 and 54 earned 89 cents for every dollar made by men in 2021.

Those who take time off for caregiving often find the wage gap is even larger because their absence can affect seniority and the opportunities open to them.

Some companies are trying to help with the challenges of motherhood.

Apparel brand Patagonia, for example, provides workers with on-site child care at its headquarters and one of its distribution centres.

Consulting firm PwC offers 

maternity top-ups for birth mothers, 

financial support for parents who adopt children, 

fertility coverage 

and parental leave coaching 

aimed at helping workers focus on their family while away and then return to work with their long-term career goals in mind.

The Canadian Institute for Advanced Research reimburses individuals with a dependent under the age of 12 for costs associated with childcare when it holds meetings.

However, Adeniyi-Ogunyankin still sees hurdles in areas like research travel.

“If you're going to go away and do research, you can't just go there for a week or two weeks in order to get something substantial,” said Adeniyi-Ogunyankin, a CIFAR fellow who researches the politics of gender and neoliberal urbanism in two Nigerian cities.

"To understand the context, you need to be there for months at a time ... so that becomes challenging when you have kids."

She's contemplating what to do with her kids if she is able to travel to Nigeria. Plane tickets would cost $2,000 per child and she’d have to cover daycare fees to keep one of her kids from losing their spot.

But she's made her career and child care work several times before.

When she was interviewing for a job while one of her children was a few months old, she heard a common refrain: don’t let people know you have a child.

“I decided not to do that,” she said. "I was like, 'I have a three-month-old, so you need to schedule some breaks in for me.'”

She has brought her baby to presentations and dinners during the recruitment process. She figures it was more acceptable because she's in the gender studies field, but still argues "we don't need to make that part of ourselves invisible."

Jessica Metcalf, a CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar who teaches at Colorado State University, agrees. She strives to be a role model for others aspiring to pursue academia and have kids.

Doing both means sometimes making "hard decisions" because "the reality is I can't do everything," she said.

"I have to do in 40 hours a week, what some people have 50 or 60 hours a week to do," she said, noting she can't catch up on work during the weekend because she has to care for her kids then.

"I always joke, if I was as efficient as I am now when I was in grad school, I would have finished in, like, half the time."

To manage the demands of work and motherhood, Metcalf hired a sleep consultant to smooth out her kids' bedtime so she isn't awoken several times in the night, and feverishly uses her calendar.

She sees signs that conditions are improving for working mothers. Her employer, for example, is exploring a pilot project which could offer financial support or temporary caregiving during research periods.

But supporting working moms can't come solely from small policy changes, Venditti said. It has to come from companies' operating ethos or from a new generation dramatically improving the work situation for the next one.

"When women run companies, when people start companies because of the way they were treated, magic happens," she said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 8, 2024.

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/working-moms-on-the-maternal-wall-that-can-stall-careers-1.2044299


"Opinion: Canadian women want more children than they're having"/ "Flexible work 'game changer' in advancing career opportunities for women: Perpetual Energy CEO"

I'm posting this in honor of International Women's Day which is Mar. 8.


Feb. 14, 2023 "Opinion: Canadian women want more children than they're having": Today I found this article by Andrea Mrozek on the Financial Post:


“Where are all the children?” My three-year-old recently asked this after we arrived at the park. Fair question, kid. All too often the swings hang empty, pot shops have replaced ice cream parlours and stores are void of little feet. 

Though low fertility gained some attention during COVID, when fertility fell even further, we mostly avoid the topic or assume the long-term decline is a good thing.

Perhaps it is and perhaps it isn’t. But a recent survey shows it is not quite what women want. Cardus tasked the Angus Reid Group with asking 2,700 Canadian women how many children they wanted. 

We found that nearly half end their reproductive years with fewer children than they desire. On average, Canadian women want to have 2.2 children, but only try for 1.9. I

n fact, our fertility rate misses both desires and intentions by quite a lot, sitting at just 1.4 children per woman.

The dominant cultural tendency to pretend low fertility is always a gift misses the mark of what women actually experience and think, according to this survey. 

The question of why women wait to have children — sometimes indefinitely — is complex.

Among women under 30 who want children, the top six reasons given for not planning to have one in the next two years include: 

wanting to grow as a person, 

saving money, 

focusing on career, 

believing kids require intense care, 

and — tied — 

having no suitable partner 

and wanting more leisure.

Many of these replies sound reasonable — until you think them through. 

Who could quibble with a desire for personal growth, for example? 

Except that saying it is a barrier to fertility implies having children is incompatible with growth. 

Many a parent would beg to differ. 

Some of the strongest personal growth emerges from the need to support small, developing humans. 

True, though, it’s not a money-maker nor is it likely to land you on a “top 40 under 40” list.

The poll responses point to a cultural life script that prioritizes 

education, 

money 

and work.

Autonomy, not interdependence. 

By the time we complete years of expensive schooling, we need to focus on career both for personal satisfaction and to pay off debt. 

“No suitable partner” is another obvious barrier to having children: fertility is still correlated with marriage, which we’re also increasingly postponing.

It is worth noting that some of the more popular policy solutions didn’t register as a barrier to having children, however. 

“No childcare availability” was a low-ranking concern. 

Childcare costs ranked higher, but still weren’t near the top 10 most common reasons given 

by women who want, 

but aren’t having, more children.

As it turns out, women’s happiness in life is tied tightly to fertility. The survey confirmed that mothers report greater happiness than non-mothers everywhere, except when under 25 or living in poverty. 

Both “excess” and “missing” children reduce happiness, the survey shows.

The biggest hit comes from “excess” children but the share of these women is very much smaller than the share with “missing” children. 

Having fewer kids than they’d like is a much more common influence on women’s happiness than having too many.

Yet society remains predominantly concerned with preventing childbearing. 

The message that children are a burden starts young. 

Well-intended efforts to avoid teen pregnancy often overplay the difficulties associated with having a baby. 

Many women only come to realize that having children cannot quite be controlled in timing or number through the pain of infertility or miscarriage.

Women’s organizations aim for equal numbers of women and men in workplaces and politics but few worry about women achieving family goals. 

“Girl power” messaging shouts through a loudspeaker that this mundane thing called family can happen but meaning and recognition come from elsewhere. 

Trying to achieve that kind of recognition before having children may steal a woman’s most fertile years. 

We seem trapped in old-school feminist philosophies about what it means to achieve the good life, only to find that life satisfaction eludes us.

I am willing to say that low fertility is a problem. 

People are walking miracles, no more so than when they are tiny and unaware of how to show off. 

This is an issue we must address head on. 

Governments can do their part but it is difficult to see any policy having success without cultural change. 

Setting a simple goal of acknowledging that Canadian women would like to have more children than we do is a start. When we establish this as a known fact of Canadian fertility — well, then we might just begin to answer the question of where all the children are.

Andrea Mrozek is a senior fellow at Cardus, the think-tank.

Canadian women want more children than they're having: opinion | Financial Post


"As it turns out, women’s happiness in life is tied tightly to fertility."

OMG. I can hear the post-modern feminist activists heads exploding. Come on Andrea, don't you know this is not true and it is only a social/cultural construct to keep women in the home so they can oppressed?


My opinion: I never want to have kids.  I wanted to focus on my career to be a TV writer and producer, and kids are a lot of work.


I also wanted more leisure.  


Apr. 13, 2023 "Flexible work 'game changer' in advancing career opportunities for women: Perpetual Energy CEO": Today I found this article by Daniel Johnson on BNN Bloomberg:

Perpetual Energy Inc.’s president and CEO Susan Riddell Rose says flexible work arrangements spurred by the pandemic have helped women advance their careers. 

Riddell Rose said in an interview with BNN Bloomberg Thursday that changing work arrangements have been the most significant driver of progress regarding career advancement opportunities for women.

“Probably the biggest progress, though, is the last three years with the whole introduction of being able to be flexible in our work lives. And that was a side-effect from COVID-19, which I think is a game changer for women staying in the game,” she said. 

“It is a good setup. Now it's up to women to decide ‘I'm going to seize this opportunity, I'm going to be part of the exciting things going on.’”

Riddell Rose is set to be recognized with a lifetime achievement award Thursday evening by the Calgary Influential Women in Business Awards.


Riddell Rose said she has seen significant change and progress over the past three decades. She said when she started her career at Shell plc, there was a concerted effort to bring more women into the oil and gas industry. 

“And that has just accelerated on so many fronts, [now] it's women on boards, all the way through senior leadership, women in the pipeline, to enhance the pipeline of females coming in through the engineering and technical sciences program,” she said.


OIL SENTIMENT 

Riddell Rose said that sentiment toward the oil and gas industry is robust, but the industry has a degree of volatility and is subject to cycles. 

“The sector's never been stronger, the last year and a half has really allowed people to transform our balance sheets, get to the work that's in front of us on the clean tech side,” she said. 

Organizations need to plan for volatility within the industry, Riddell Rose said, as the “world really does need the energy we’re providing.” 

She said the cycles of volatility are getting short. 

Amid the current business conditions in the oil and gas industry, she said Perpetual Energy is taking steps to improve its balance sheet. 

“We've really been shoring up our balance sheet, which is definitely a way of returning capital to shareholders because it's making it stronger for them. But we've done some transactions that have really allowed us to bring our debt in line,” Riddell Rose said. 

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/flexible-work-game-changer-in-advancing-career-opportunities-for-women-perpetual-energy-ceo-1.1907433