Count yourself in May 14
The 1996 census will, for the first time, count how many hours Canadians spend on unpaid housework and family care. For well over 100 years, statistical agencies have steadfastly resisted collecting that information in the census.
Carol Lees, founder of Canadian Alliance for Home Managers, states in her booklet It’s About Time, Unpaid Work and the 1996 Census, that “the real obstacle to not including housework and family care, has been that household work was simply deemed unimportant.”
The system of national accounts, which plays a major role in determining public policy, considers only goods and services exchanged for money as productive. Unpaid workers are classified as unoccupied and unproductive.
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The census is a legal document and is used by the international community as the document of reference regarding the status of the Canadian population.
According to Statistics Canada, the census is the single most comprehensive survey of information on the way Canadians live, and a principal source of information for measuring social and economic change. To accurately reflect how Canadians live, work and use their time, it is essential that unpaid work be included.
Most Canadians will receive a short census form which does not include questions on unpaid work. If you receive the long form (every fifth house will) it will include question 30 which asks:
“Last week, how many hours did you spend doing the following activities?”
a) Doing unpaid housework, yard work or home maintenance?
Some examples include: preparing meals, doing laundry, household planning, shopping and cutting grass.
b) Looking after one or more of your own children, or the children of others, without pay.
Some examples include: bathing or playing with young children, driving children to sports activities or helping them with homework, and talking with teens about their problems.
c) Providing unpaid care or assistance to one or more seniors.
Some examples include: Providing personal care to a senior family member, visiting seniors, talking with them on the telephone and helping them with shopping, banking or with taking medication.
List activities
In answering the questions count the total number of unpaid hours spent doing each of the activities in parts (a) to (c).
Include unpaid activities for members of your household, other family members outside the household and friends or neighbors. Overlapping activities should be reported under separate categories. If you spend one hour preparing a meal while looking after your children, report one hour of housework in (a) and one hour of child care in (b).
The 1996 census will not count volunteer community work or care for an ill or disabled adult. Lees suggests letting Statistics Canada know how much time you spend on these activities. Write in your additional hours at the end of the question on unpaid household work. The highest response category for hours of unpaid work in the care of seniors is 10 hours or more. If your hours are much more than 10, write in the correct number.
For more information on unpaid work call Carol Lees, 306-343-9379.
Doukhobor bread
One of our readers requested a Doukhobor bread recipe. This recipe is from Norm and Delva Rebin, as made by Norm’s mother. They recall the bread was traditionally baked in stone/brick ovens but when it came directly from the oven, whether old stone or new electric, they still “hogged it down.”
The other tradition related to the bread is serving it with Doukhobor borscht or with real butter and loads of home-made jam. It is delicious.
Anne’s Doukhobour bread
5 cups water 1.25 L
14 cups flour 3.5 L
1 heaping 15 mL
tablespoon salt
1Ú3 cup melted butter 75 mL
or shortening
1 package yeast 1
1Ú2 cup water 125 mL
2 tablespoons sugar 25 mL
Into 1Ú2 cup (125 mL) of warm water put two tablespoons (25 mL) sugar and one package of yeast. Set in a warm place to rise until the cup is full. Then put five cups (1.25 L) lukewarm water in a large bowl, add the salt and the raised yeast and half of the melted butter or shortening. Add sifted flour a little at a time and mix by hand. Knead until it does not stick to hands. When all the flour is used, scrape the sides of the container and butter sides. Pour the remaining butter on hand and knead dough until it is elastic and shiny.
Cover dough and put in a warm place to rise. When double in bulk, punch down, let rise again and punch down and let rise a third time to double in size. Then form into loaves and put into buttered loaf pans.
Punch the loaves with a fork in a few places to remove bubbles of air. Let rise to double in size, then bake for one hour at 350-400 F (180-200 C). If the crust is not a nice brown, increase heat the last 10 minutes.
Sourdough starter
A 1Ú2 cup (125 mL) of the sourdough starter printed in the March 7 column would be equal to one package of yeast. The batch of starter should yield enough for 10 to 12 bread recipes. This same starter can be extended by taking 1Ú2 cup (125 mL) and adding one cup (250 mL) of flour, one cup (250 mL) of water (preferably rice, potato or macaroni water) and two tablespoons (25 mL) of sugar. Mix and let the mixture sour and bubble for two to five days. It is now ready to use a 1Ú2 cup (125 mL) at a time.
Clay ovens
Tim Albert of Saskatoon forwarded the following addresses for information on how to build clay ovens.
- Andy Tokaryk, 409 Dalhousie Cres., Saskatoon, Sask., S7H 3S3, 306-477-2624.
- Bohdan Ciona, 343 Matador Dr., Swift Current, Sask., S9H 4R4, 306-773-9634.
Family day
May 15 is the international day of families. Celebrate your family by doing things together. Consider taking a walk, a game of ball, a family sing song or plan a family holiday.
Whatever you choose to do, take a few moments to think of the great things about your children as individuals, their strengths and talents. Share your thoughts with them. Families are the basic unit of society and our children are precious gifts. Take time to treasure and enjoy them, whatever their age.
Pickled garlic correction
In the March 28 recipe there was a misprint. It was printed as “put in clean jars and scald.” This should have read put into clean jars and seal. Sorry for the error.
