10. A recent study on the "Economic returns to education in Canada"(Table 17) calculated the yearly rate of return on the cost of educating men as 8% ¹ No rate was calculated for women. The authors concluded that expenditures on the education of men were justified but made no such claim for women. This raises some serious questions about the economic justification of educational expenditures for women which should be addressed through an intensive study. We should be concerned that education is being defined in this case solely in economic terms, with no evaluation of the social benefits such as health, well-being, quality of life and so on.

If women are to counter this type of thinking we need to find ways of analyzing education according to value indicators which are relevant to women's concerns. We do not know, for example, how much it costs to maintain a woman at her various ages and stages of life in our society. We do not know how this compares to the costs of maintaining a man; nor do we know how these costs are affected by education. Other social indicators might be:

- how do educational levels relate to the frequency of child abuse, alcoholism, stress-related medical problems, etc. All of these can be translated into economic terms.

- how many families would require welfare assistance if the mother did not work? Does the level of education of the woman in such families relate to the frequency and amount of assistance required?

- does the frequency and level of involvement in educational activities over a lifetime relate to longevity and/or to the individual's need for medical or financial assistance in the senior years?

It seems imperative that such a study should examine education using social indicators defined in terms relevant to a woman's life rather than to a man's life. The study mentioned above is based on total earnings over a lifetime. Perhaps this is irrelevant to a woman's life or at least, not the most important indicator of the value of education.

11. In a study on the authority, responsibility and control women have within their white-collar occupations, it was found that: ²

• women work with machines more often than men (67% compared to 35%)
• women do not deal with complex procedures as often as men (52% vs. 79%).
• women hold jobs which are not integrated into the main production process of the firm more often than men (54% vs. 21%)

^1. R. A. Holmes in cooperation with Statistics Canada, Current Economic Analysis Division, Economic returns to education in Canada, Catalogue 13-556, (Ottawa: Information Canada, 1974), p. 28.

^2. M. P. Marchak, "The Canadian Labour force: Jobs for women" in M. Stephenson (ed.) ,Women in Canada (revised ed.), (Don Mills, Ont.: General Publishing Co. Limited, 1977).pp. 149 - 151.