Written by Kathleen O’Mahony, CNN Canada
This is the report in full:
Carla Ferreira calls it a “crude weapon.”
The d.j. “bueta” is an industrial hand wash used in rural villages in Spain. It was designed to provide an effective sanitary solution for women and girls living in remote regions where trucks are not allowed, such as in Portugal.
A concerted effort among worker unions and consumer groups to encourage the Royal Canal Company to introduce water filters and better design allowed the brand to create cleaner sanitary pads. They are widely used by women in several Western European countries, including Spain, Italy, France and Greece.
Ferreira was doing advocacy work on behalf of Fairly Charged at the time. They created a survey where poor women in Athens were asked if they preferred “normal” sanitary pads or “bueta” pads. Fairly Charged asserts the latter come with higher lead content and are harder on the body.
In January, Chile unveiled a strong bill to clean up lead paint. Credit: REUTERS/Carlos Vera
The majority of respondents rejected the former, 62%. By comparison, the most common opinion preferred the latter, 34%.
” Bueta ” have always been used, especially in poorer communities,” Ferreira said. “They work equally well in sanitary pads and tampons, a misconception that we don’t pay attention to.”
Recognizing the influence of ‘community associations,’ the Association of Quality Puberty (Acacuz) is looking at the development of a Bueta Ana Ana– a sanitary solution using recyclable goods that could be pitched in advertisements to offer a way of changing paradigms.
The most effective political tool in the fight for affordable and quality child care is investing in a network of child care centers that work together to become their own little economy.
Seventy percent of the people on the list for each Canadian province still work full-time. While the average wage of a carpenter in Ontario is $30,000, that of a single father of two children is just $12,000. The government wants to address these issues and support working families.
They are trying to respond to a report by New Scientist which found that Canadians are working about half their lifetime hours at home in unpaid child care.
“When people support the children,” Ferreira said, “parents will be able to buy new clothes and other things.”
Although full-time employment is still the norm, the ability to include individuals with children part-time in the labor force has decreased significantly over the past 10 years. Among those who lack the means to support a family, it is surprising that participation rates are as high as it is. In 2013, only 18% of full-time workers in Canada worked part-time.
Child care is expensive and there are currently no federal regulations governing the pay of workers in early learning and care centers, as well as how the average family pays for child care. Canada is proposing national regulations for early learning and care.
“Child care workers are people who are working to support their families, and our research shows that the change of families will have an impact on child care workers. Those people will work less, and not be able to work part-time,” said Ferreira.
That is why Acacuz is encouraging single moms, as well as parents with young children, to join a buying group in Canada with a goal of $150 per day, representing 25 free shares.
“There will be a network of moms that will provide discounts for morning shows, magazine subscriptions, restaurants and coffee shops,” she said.
Whatever role parents have played in this campaign so far has given her a new understanding of what the average couple on social security in Canada will be spending on childcare.
“It’s equivalent to how much they will spend on groceries for the year and in just one day,” she said.