As you may know, women in Canada do not receive equivalent pay compared to those of a male. Evidence shows that in Canada, women earn 84 cents to every $1 a male earns. For minority men and women, there is an even greater gap between their income and that of a white man’s in the same field.
What causes the gender wage gap?
The gender pay gap is influenced by a variety of factors such as, discrimination, choice of occupation and childcare policies. Since women are more likely to take parental leave or time off from work to care for a child, it can have a negative impact on their earning potential. Employers with inadequate childcare policies often put working parents in an undesirable position, forcing them to move to lower-paid positions with more flexible hours.
Discrimination also plays a major role in widening the pay gap. Hiring managers and bosses usually tend to favor male workers over female due to patriarchal ideas. They have the perception that men perform better at certain tasks, when in fact, this is not the case.
How do we take steps towards narrowing the wage gap?
Canada is ranked 7th in the world for worst gender wage gap (18.97%.) It is clear that this gap needs to be narrowed. A few strategies for narrowing the gender wage gap are raising the minimum wage, unions and increasing access to childcare.
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Raising minimum wage
Women represent nearly two-thirds of workers in low-wage work, such as service-sector jobs. This is one of the factors that contribute to the gender pay gap. Due to women being over-represented in low-wage work, raising the minimum wage would have a positive and immediate effect in terms of narrowing the gender pay gap.
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Unions
Unions commonly advocate for more equitable pay practices such as, pay transparency and grievance procedures. They help women secure benefits like scheduling accommodations and paid leave. Unions have proven to be effective.
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Increase access to childcare
Childcare is expensive. These high costs mean that childcare is unaffordable for many families, especially those who earn minimum wage. Due to this fact, many women end up leaving the workforce to care for their children, rather than staying at a job that barely covers the cost. Increasing the access to childcare would help narrow the disparity by keeping more working mothers in the workforce.
Due to the gender wage gap having no singular cause, there isn’t a quick way to reduce the pay gap between men and women. Constant, concentrated activism will be required in order to ensure that these gaps are eliminated.
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