Beyond the Childcare Fix: State-Sponsored Economic Privilege in Quebec’s Postpandemic Recovery Strategy

During the COVID-19 pandemic, several national governments framed investments in affordable childcare as a cornerstone of a gender-sensitive postpandemic recovery. Inspired by the feminist history of full-employment policies, this article interrogates the limits of this strategy through a case study of Quebec, a Canadian province distinguished by its long-standing universal childcare ­system. Using data from the Canadian Labour Force Survey and from Quebec’s economic policy documents, it examines the gender gap in employment in the four years following the pandemic of coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2). The findings reveal that despite high access to affordable childcare, the gender employment gap widened and has yet to return to prepandemic levels.