Pay Equity
On average, women still earn less than men regardless of their occupation, age or education. Today, a woman earns 72.5 cents for every dollar that a man earns. For Aboriginal women, women of colour and racialized or new immigrant women, the wage gap between their earnings and the earnings of white men is even greater than the wage gap between white men and white women.
Historically, work that women have traditionally done has not been considered as valuable as “men’s work”. Taking care of children and elders, performing clerical tasks, cleaning houses and offices and teaching are examples of work that is undervalued and underpaid. This devaluing of “women’s work” can be explained by many factors including systemic discrimination, racism, the lack of women in political positions and occupational segregation.
Pay inequity hurts women and their families. It makes women and children more vulnerable to poverty. In Canada, more women than men live in poverty and the majority of single-parent households are headed by a woman living on a low income.
Since pay inequity contributes to poverty, it can have devastating health and social consequences: poor nutrition, inadequate housing, poor concentration and performance at school, social isolation. Pay inequity is also related to economic dependence, which affects a woman’s ability to leave an abusive relationship. Women bringing home lower paycheques also receive lower retirement incomes. Too often, senior women live hand-to-mouth until the end of their lives.
Pay equity legislation helps to compensate women for this historic and systemic discrimination. Effective pay equity laws are a critical tool in advancing equality rights for all women and other historically-disadvantaged groups. Along with anti-discrimination and employment equity laws, increased minimum wages and community advocacy, pay equity can help achieve real equality for all women in Canada.
More information on pay equity may be obtained from the Federation office, the Canadian Labour Congress, or the Pay Equity Network through the National Association of Women and the Law.
