No progress in the last decade, and little expected in the next.Without huge shifts in the workplace — as well as in expectations for women on the home front — experts say there is no chance the gender wage gap will be closed.Given the slow progress in the past 10-plus years, “what that’s telling us is that over time, we’ve done as much as we could given the structure we have and given the responsibilities that we typically put on women as opposed to men — this is where the gap has gotten stuck,” said Wilfrid Laurier University Prof. Tammy Schirle, an economist and expert in gender pay issues.“However you measure it, a large part of it comes from the fact that women are the primary caregivers — both for children and the elderly — so they’re often limited to taking those types of jobs that can accommodate the schedules that come with taking on those responsibilities.“They’re left out of the jobs that pay extra … they’re giving up a certain path, they’re giving up promotions, they’re giving up moving up that ladder because they have to take on that extra responsibility.”A recent report by Ontario’s Financial Accountability Office found women workers earn 87 cents for every dollar earned by men, and “the gender wage gap persists across all age groups and across all broad occupational categories.”While working in different sectors accounts for a small portion of it, “the remaining 11 cents of the gender wage gap is due to wage inequality within occupations, which is difficult to quantify but could be due to gender-based wage discrimination, or women’s selection of less demanding or more flexible work to accommodate family or caregiving responsibilities, among other factors,” the report said.But changing societal norms is an enormous task — “there’s no magic wand,” added Schirle — so governments must do more.“The window you then look for is trying to balance things out with more general policies — things like the child-care agreements that have been brought in across provinces, including Ontario, should make a huge difference,” she said.In 2018, then-premier Kathleen Wynne brought in a pay transparency bill in Ontario in a bid to narrow the gap — which in some sectors is about 30 per cent. It would have forced businesses to disclose compensation in job ads and report what they pay workers, but was shelved shortly after the Ford government took office.“We tried a number of things,” Wynne said in a recent interview. “The minimum wage increase was part of that, because a lot of the people who were most affected were going to be women.”She said the government tried to “nudge and encourage” corporations to put more women on their boards, and “certainly within government, we increased the number of the percentage of women on boards,” but the lack of representation is still a concern.The wage gap “is a really hard nut to crack, because it’s systemic,” the former premier added. “It is very discouraging.”Charmaine Williams, the province’s associate minister of women’s social and economic opportunity, noted the government is part of the $13.2-billion child-care agreement with the federal government to add more — and more affordable — daycare, and is also focusing on getting women into higher-paying sectors, including the skilled trades and has invested more than $30 million for projects to support women and build their skills.“We are focused on supporting women so that they will no longer have to choose between thriving careers and caring for their children,” Williams said in a written statement. “We’ll continue to make investments to help women and girls achieve the success they deserve.”Schirle said workplaces could also provide employees more flexibility and the option of working from home when needed — as they did during the pandemic — and encourage men to take paternity leaves when they start families.“In some European countries, you will find jurisdictions where they have rules about allowing for part-time schedules and requiring employers to offer flexibility in their scheduling to accommodate families that can be useful as well,” she added. Parbudyal Singh, a human resource management professor at York University, was a member of the gender pay gap steering committee under the former Liberal government. He said the gap hasn’t budged much in about two decades, with a number of factors at play — including gender segregation across sectors and industries, as well as within sectors.“We have societal norms — over a century or more — that have helped to shape public and organizational perception of what we value,” he said, which has led to lower pay for child-care workers despite the fact they require a post-secondary diploma or degree, whereas the male-dominated trades earn much more.Within the medical field, women may take on positions in family medicine as opposed to surgery, where they could earn more, but would not have the flexibility they need in caring for their children or parents.Singh said while pay equity laws address discrimination, they aren’t enough to address the gap because “much of the gap is external.”Without intervention, he said studies have suggested it could take 150 years to close the gap. In Ontario, New Democrat MPP Jill Andrew — her party’s women’s issues critic — said the government’s Bill 124, which capped pay increases for the public sector at one per cent a year, hampered efforts to boost women’s wages.Plus, Andrew noted, the 87-cent gap is “significantly lower” for Black, Indigenous and other vulnerable groups.“Many (women) are having to piece together part-time work to make a full-time paycheque, while also enduring what I call the triple day — the paid work, coming home and looking after the kids and, in many cases, women who are taking care of elderly parents, elderly relatives,” Andrew said. “Women are putting in so much unpaid labour and it’s simply not sustainable.”Real change “is going to take a value shift in what we put our minds and our money, what we want to invest into, to make sure that life is better,” Andrew said. “It’s not just for women, because I strongly believe when we help women and girls thrive, the entire community thrives.”Kristin Rushowy is a Toronto-based reporter covering Ontario politics for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: @krushowy
No progress in the last decade, and little expected in the next.
Without huge shifts in the workplace — as well as in expectations for women on the home front — experts say there is no chance the gender wage gap will be closed.
Given the slow progress in the past 10-plus years, “what that’s telling us is that over time, we’ve done as much as we could given the structure we have and given the responsibilities that we typically put on women as opposed to men — this is where the gap has gotten stuck,” said Wilfrid Laurier University Prof. Tammy Schirle, an economist and expert in gender pay issues.
“However you measure it, a large part of it comes from the fact that women are the primary caregivers — both for children and the elderly — so they’re often limited to taking those types of jobs that can accommodate the schedules that come with taking on those responsibilities.
“They’re left out of the jobs that pay extra … they’re giving up a certain path, they’re giving up promotions, they’re giving up moving up that ladder because they have to take on that extra responsibility.”
A recent report by Ontario’s Financial Accountability Office found women workers earn 87 cents for every dollar earned by men, and “the gender wage gap persists across all age groups and across all broad occupational categories.”
While working in different sectors accounts for a small portion of it, “the remaining 11 cents of the gender wage gap is due to wage inequality within occupations, which is difficult to quantify but could be due to gender-based wage discrimination, or women’s selection of less demanding or more flexible work to accommodate family or caregiving responsibilities, among other factors,” the report said.
But changing societal norms is an enormous task — “there’s no magic wand,” added Schirle — so governments must do more.
“The window you then look for is trying to balance things out with more general policies — things like the child-care agreements that have been brought in across provinces, including Ontario, should make a huge difference,” she said.
In 2018, then-premier Kathleen Wynne brought in a pay transparency bill in Ontario in a bid to narrow the gap — which in some sectors is about 30 per cent. It would have forced businesses to disclose compensation in job ads and report what they pay workers, but was shelved shortly after the Ford government took office.
“We tried a number of things,” Wynne said in a recent interview. “The minimum wage increase was part of that, because a lot of the people who were most affected were going to be women.”
She said the government tried to “nudge and encourage” corporations to put more women on their boards, and “certainly within government, we increased the number of the percentage of women on boards,” but the lack of representation is still a concern.
The wage gap “is a really hard nut to crack, because it’s systemic,” the former premier added. “It is very discouraging.”
Charmaine Williams, the province’s associate minister of women’s social and economic opportunity, noted the government is part of the $13.2-billion child-care agreement with the federal government to add more — and more affordable — daycare, and is also focusing on getting women into higher-paying sectors, including the skilled trades and has invested more than $30 million for projects to support women and build their skills.
“We are focused on supporting women so that they will no longer have to choose between thriving careers and caring for their children,” Williams said in a written statement. “We’ll continue to make investments to help women and girls achieve the success they deserve.”
Schirle said workplaces could also provide employees more flexibility and the option of working from home when needed — as they did during the pandemic — and encourage men to take paternity leaves when they start families.
“In some European countries, you will find jurisdictions where they have rules about allowing for part-time schedules and requiring employers to offer flexibility in their scheduling to accommodate families that can be useful as well,” she added.
Parbudyal Singh, a human resource management professor at York University, was a member of the gender pay gap steering committee under the former Liberal government.
He said the gap hasn’t budged much in about two decades, with a number of factors at play — including gender segregation across sectors and industries, as well as within sectors.
“We have societal norms — over a century or more — that have helped to shape public and organizational perception of what we value,” he said, which has led to lower pay for child-care workers despite the fact they require a post-secondary diploma or degree, whereas the male-dominated trades earn much more.
Within the medical field, women may take on positions in family medicine as opposed to surgery, where they could earn more, but would not have the flexibility they need in caring for their children or parents.
Singh said while pay equity laws address discrimination, they aren’t enough to address the gap because “much of the gap is external.”
Without intervention, he said studies have suggested it could take 150 years to close the gap.
In Ontario, New Democrat MPP Jill Andrew — her party’s women’s issues critic — said the government’s Bill 124, which capped pay increases for the public sector at one per cent a year, hampered efforts to boost women’s wages.
Plus, Andrew noted, the 87-cent gap is “significantly lower” for Black, Indigenous and other vulnerable groups.
“Many (women) are having to piece together part-time work to make a full-time paycheque, while also enduring what I call the triple day — the paid work, coming home and looking after the kids and, in many cases, women who are taking care of elderly parents, elderly relatives,” Andrew said. “Women are putting in so much unpaid labour and it’s simply not sustainable.”
Real change “is going to take a value shift in what we put our minds and our money, what we want to invest into, to make sure that life is better,” Andrew said. “It’s not just for women, because I strongly believe when we help women and girls thrive, the entire community thrives.”
Kristin Rushowy is a Toronto-based reporter covering Ontario politics for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: @krushowy
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