Pay Gap in Canada

Gender Pay Gap

Gender pay gap, also known as the gender wage gap or the sex wage gap, refers to the historical notion of men earning more money than women in jobs of equal skill and labour requirements. It can also be looked at through the inequalities towards women in hiring, promotion and compensation within the workforce. . Even after looking at the discrepancies of workers human capital, job segregation and characteristics, it is still clear that men earn more money than women on average.. In addition, it is shown that women are more likely to be employed in lower wage jobs compared to men in Canada. Canada’s gender wage gap and its consequences are often viewed as the reason for the implementation of gender employment equality policies within Canada. These policies are in place to attempt to promote equal opportunities and reduce segregation in the work place, and to enhance the value of women’s labour to the status of men’s.

History

Women have been primarily employed in jobs that have low wages and are undervalued in comparison to men. as well women traditionally are less educated than men. In 2006, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) placed Canada amongst the several countries that have large gender wage gaps - stating that for every dollar a Canadian man makes, a Canadian woman makes 70 cents. However, women’s roles and value in the workforce has been approaching closer standards of equality, and the view of men as the “bread winners” and women doing domestic work in the home is changing as the dominant view of the average Canadian family. Canada has created various policies in order to address the gender wage gap. Specifically, in 1956 the Act to Promote Equal Pay for Women was passed, restricting employers from paying male workers more than female workers for doing the same work.

The Employment Equity Act passed in 1995 to knock down boundaries that limit women’s representation in typically male-dominated occupations, as well as “family-friendly” policies that address issues such as maternity leave and flexible work hours in order to encourage female participation within the labour market. However, even with these strides towards gender equality within the workplace, women are still on average getting paid less than men. Women still tend to work in occupations that are traditionally female-dominated. For example, 67% of all working women in Canada occupy teaching, nursing or other health occupations, clerical and administrative positions. This suggests that although Canada may have come a long way from the traditional male-dominated work force, it is apparent that we are still in the process of developing equality between male and female workers.

Work Segregation

A large issue that contributes to gender wage gap is attributed to sex segregation within the workforce and the labour market as a whole. Sex segregation refers to the concentration of men and women in certain occupations. Historically, men and women have typically been employed in different fields of work, it is rare to find a workplace that employs sexes in proportion to their representation in the workforce. Women in the workforce may be more likely to be employed in jobs that are considered "female jobs," and many times "female jobs" are often lower paying jobs compared to male dominated jobs. Female dominated jobs are also less likely to provide benefits, on the job training, opportunity to obtain authority, and receive promotions. In 1980, 72 percent of employed men occupied jobs that were only 30 percent female, and 56 percent of employed women occupied job that were 70 percent female, meaning that the large majority of men go into male dominated occupations while a large majority of females go into female dominated occupations. Although there is a slight downward trend in sex segregation, it is not enough and sex segregation still plays a role in the gender wage gap in the workforce.

Immigrants Gender Wage Gap in Canada

In recent years, the Canadian government has begun to see immigration “through the lens of economic competence” , believing that skilled professionals from other countries are more likely to be able to support themselves without using welfare. Due to the high immigration rates into Canada, the Canadian work force is now consisting of more racially diverse people, both men and women. About 6,775,800 people living in Canada are foreign-born, making up about 20% of the population. So seeing that Canada is a nation of large immigrant population, the issue of how immigrants fare in Canada's labour market is extremely important. Any discrimination immigrants face, such as earning less than their Canadian-born counterparts, will negatively effect not only their economic well-being but also their psychological well-being. Unfortuently, discrimination against immigrants is not up for debate. The literature on immigrants in Canada has shown a "clear pattern on deteriorating earnings" based on various factors such as, being a visible minority, coming from a less developed country, differences in language and numeracy, also issues surrounding how their skills and credentials are valued. Because of discrimination immigrants may end up living in poverty, this may force them to use resources such as social assistance, public housing and employment insurance. This viscous cycle may cause some people to view immigrants negatively, perceived as people who don't contribute to society but take away from our social safety net. Also, if immigrants are not able use their skills and credentials to their full potential this is essentially a loss of "output for the Canadian economy."

Discrimination

Both men and women immigrants face obstacles in terms of entering and staying in the work force, however immigrant women particularly face struggles in terms of income disparities. In 2006, 95% of immigrant women were of working age, compared to 80% of Canadian born women. 55% of these immigrant women were in the work force, which accounts for 21% of the female work force in Canada. Even with the large increase in women immigrant workers in Canada, they still face higher income gaps and rates of unemployment. In 2009, immigrant women had lower employment rates compared to immigrant men regardless of how long they have been in Canada for. Furthermore, in 2006, immigrant women had an unemployment rate of 7.8% compared to Canada-born women who only had an unemployment rate of 6.2%. When immigrant women were asked why they have been unsuccessful in finding employment in comparison to other groups of people, they explained that language barriers were a contributing factor, as well as differing views and values on working women in their home country. Specifically some cultures frown upon women joining the workforce. Other reasons were stated that it was hard to fit into the Canadian working culture and the expectations of women in this culture.