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"If we want a country that cares for the future of women and families, we must create good jobs, fight gender discrimination, and promote pay equity. And that's just a start." — James Clancy, NUPGE National President
Ottawa (24 Nov. 2015) — One hundred and eighteen years — that's how long it will take for women to reach income equality around the world. This estimate comes from the World Economic Forum in its Global Gender Gap Report 2015.
Canada ranks 30th in Global Gender Gap Report
The Global Gender Gap Index 2015 ranked 145 economies according to how well they are leveraging their female talent pool, based on economic, educational, health-based and political indicators. Canada was ranked in 30th spot, down from 19th last year.
With 10 years of data to examine, this Global Gender Gap Report “shows that while the world has made progress overall,” some inequalities are still there, even in Canada.
Women now earning what men earned in 2006
One of the greatest challenges globally continues to be the income gap between men and women. Women are now earning what men did in 2006: a global average of US$11,000 compared with US$20,000 for men. The report confirms that women earn about 72 per cent of what men earn.
This gap continues even though 34 per cent more women than men are attending post-secondary education.
The report details women's participation in the workforce, the amount of unpaid labour worked, the ability of women to rise to positions of leadership, the number of women in managerial roles in the workplace. The report also examines health outcomes and educational attainment as compared to men.
Government must work to rectify the institutional bias against women
"This report makes it crystal clear that we have a great deal more work to do to correct these inequities," said James Clancy, National President of the National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE). "If we want a country that cares for the future of women and families, we must create good jobs, fight gender discrimination, and promote pay equity. And that's just a start.
"We hope that the new government in Ottawa, which boasted about its gender parity in Cabinet, will be as determined to create concrete ways to address this massive income gap for women," Clancy said.
NUPGE
The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) is one of Canada's largest labour organizations with over 360,000 members. Our mission is to improve the lives of working families and to build a stronger Canada by ensuring our common wealth is used for the common good. NUPGE