The gender wage gap is a really important civic issue to address because it shows the inequality and gender bias at the jobsite. In comparison to men, women, especially women who are marginalised by the dominant population in their respective city or country, have to overcome obstacles that restrict how much their salary is, which feed into cycles that make poverty a constant in their family. By guaranteeing that women are paid equally for equivalent labour, closing the gap benefits women as well as families and communities by making sure the economy is stable. For feminists, activists and employers, this is an important problem because of the backlash a company can get and how it can tarnish their reputation, which is a serious civic issue. …show more content…
In Canada, senators and members of parliament play a crucial role in the creation and law enforcement of federal legislation that aims to fight workplace discrimination and close the wage gap. Additionally, through negotiating agreements that prioritize equal pay, representatives from protest groups and labour unions defend the rights of workers, especially women. Legislators and public servants have the authority to implement laws and policies that uphold pay fairness, close the wage gap, and try to make everyone equal and happy in the workplace. In addition, a lot of effort is being made by community leaders, educators, and organizations to create awareness, offer tools, and enable people to confront gender-based wage inequities in their communities and places of employment. It is possible to make significant progress towards eliminating the gender wage gap at all levels in Canada by using and making the voices heard of people who support these …show more content…
Its significance can’t be stressed enough because it has a significant impact on people, their families, the companies they work for, and the society we live in as a whole. Overall, the gender wage gap shows that women have less jobs and less financial security. Families struggle with the amount of resources they have access to and deal with unstable finances as a result of the wage gap. In an economy that is progressing, businesses suffer when they lose out on the advantages of having a diverse workforce, which includes men and women, and play with the danger of damaging their reputation and risking the chance of getting cancelled and going bankrupt. While women's rights groups always try to push change, governments hold back on the passing of laws and enforce regulations that are sometimes against equal pay. In my opinion, the wage gap in Canada is a really big economic issue that has to be addressed by the government sooner or later, or else they will face backlash from the population, especially women. The wage gap is affecting most women in Canada. It's not just a statistic. Recent data from the website, Statistics Canada, shows that women in Canada make about 87 cents per dollar earned by men, with the difference being much more obvious against Indigenous women and women of colour. For example, for women that have
Policy statement: Women should receive equal pay for work of equal value. It is recommended that the Canadian government should design and pass a compulsory and proactive pay equity law, which would ensure that all Canadians receive equal pay for equal work.
Canadian workplaces today seem to be a fairly diverse place, with a blend of many religions, ethnicities, and genders present. However, although people preach affirmative action and melting pots in current times, many inequality and power issues still abound. One strikingly noticeable example is gender discrimination. Women in the workforce face many challenges like smaller wages, harassment, male privilege in hiring or promotions, and lack of support when pregnant or raising children. One half of the planet is women, and it can be assumed the same for Canada, but they still face judgment at work because they lack the authority to dispute against big corporations or even their male supervisor. It cannot be argued that Canadian women’s status has worsened over the past hundred years, of course, thanks to feminism and activism. However, their status is not as high as it could be. Women as a group first started fighting for workplace equality during the second wave of feminism, from the 1960s to the 1990s. Legislation was approved during the second wave to try to bring gender equality to the workplace. Feminists both collided and collaborated with unions and employers to ensure women received fair treatment in an occupation. Quebec had the same issues, only the province approached the conflict differently than English Canada with its own unique viewpoint. It became clear that women were entering the workplace and did not plan on leaving. Second-wave feminism in Canada shifted power from the government and businesses to women in order to try to bring equality, although the discrimination never completely disappeared.
Another reason for the pay discrepancy is that women are usually employed in low-wage occupations and industries, such as teaching. Even women working in the same industry, and having equal qualifications, earn less than their male counterparts — in fact, even top women executives earn considerably less, on average, compared to their male peers (Patel, 2016). The other reason for the gender pay gap is that more women than men work part-time jobs. According to the Canadian Women's Foundation (n. d), for the last 30 years until 2013, about 70% of part-time/temporary workers were women, which translated to 60% of minimum wage earners being women. Finally, the Canadian Women's Foundation (n. d) claims that approximately 10-15% of the wage gap is
The first legislation I am going to be talking about is the Pay Equity Act. The act was passed in order to restore sex-based wage discrimination in Ontario workplaces. The Equity Act applies to all public sector employees and private. In general the act identifies the rate of pay by comparing payment to female job classes with those paid to male job classes of similar value. In non-unionized workplaces, employers are having the freedom to review the Pay Equity Plan and make recommendations in order to change it. An example of the Pay Equity Act would be if you have a female and male both working as a swampier for an oil field company. They both have the same job responsibilities and work the same hours. If the boss of the company where to pay the male more because he was stronger and in general male and pay the women less that would be a violation. The women would have the right to contact Human Resources and file a complaint against her boss, and get the same rate of pay prior to the male. The Pay equity act in my opinion is important in the workplace because it creates equality and minimizes stereotypes against women in the workplace. You never want to be in a business or visit one that has an awkward atmosphere related to se...
Thesis: Gender pay gap continues to impact working women in today’s society. Women who have the same education and experience as men deserve to be paid the same. By participating in the organizations to help stop the issue of unequal pay can eventually stop gender discrimination.
Under the Equal Pay Act of 1863, the gender wage gap supposedly no longer exists, but the facts are that “as of 2012 women in the U.S. earn 77 cents to a man's dollar” (ProQuest Staff). Men try to justify this unjust statistic by saying that “wage gap isn't necessarily the result of discrimination” (ProQuest Staff). Although, there is no logical reasoning behind it. When women are actually given the same jobs as men they may be paid the same but typically, they are not able to reach the higher positions in the company that men do. Even with their 77 cents to a man’s dollar, “women still tend to bear a larger responsibility for child care and other household matters within families” (Mazorelle). Women are not given the opportunity to earn as much as men and then they still have to take on a majority of the responsib...
Fay Faraday, a Toronto human right lawyer argued, “The pay gap fosters an environment in which women have less economic security and less economic power”. It is proven women are paid less than the same job performed by others. This creates women to lose their self esteem and self confidence. With unequal pay, especially for women, this causes less buying power and less savings for the future. Furthermore, “The push for increasing women’s wages started in the 1960s with the Equal Pay Act, individual lawsuits and action by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The message, then and now, is so powerful that when people hear it they begin to take action. For example, the California Fair Pay Act, authored by state Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson, passed with bipartisan support and gives California women the strongest fair pay protection in the nation” (Sure, Equal Pay Day is about what’s in women’s paychecks. It’s also about fairness., The Washington Post). Women’s rights have been fought in the past but now they need to be reinforced and acted upon. Women have been fighting for many years, it is now time those rights be listened to and peace can finally be restored. The Equal Pay Act was not only fought for equal paychecks but for fair pay for similar work. Unequal pay will never be solved without understanding the importance of
Women have faced gender wage discrimination for decades. The gender pay gap is the difference between what a male and a female earns. It happens when a man and a woman standing next to each other doing the same job for the same number of hours get paid different salaries. On average, full-time working- women earn just “77 cents for every dollar a man earn.” When you compare a woman and a man doing the same job, “the pay gap narrows to 81 percent (81%)” (Rosin). Fifty-one years ago, in order to stop the gender gap discrimination, Congress enacted the Equal Pay Act of 1963. The act states that all women should receive “equal pay for equal work”. Unfortunately, even in 2014 the gender pay gap persists and even at the highest echelons of the corporate; therefore, the equal pay act is a failure.
This issue has as affected both past and present society. In any democratic society, this is a concern that is to be taken more seriously. Australia has dealt with gender equality of wages for a long period and nowhere in Australia’s history have women and men’s wages been equal. Due to this significant gap, women seem to be
Throughout the history of the world, discrimination in all forms has been a constant struggle, whether it is race, gender, religion, appearance or anything else that makes one person different from another, it is happening every day. One significant discrimination problem that is affecting many women takes place in the work place. As of recently the gender wage gap has become a major topic for discussion. The gender wage gap is the average difference between men and women aggregated hourly earnings. Women who are equally trained and educated, and with the same experience are getting paid way less than men. In 2015, female full time workers earned eighty cents for every dollar earned by men.
Empowering women through education is indeed the secondary aspect of this policy option. Most importantly, introducing appropriate information educates the wider community. If the men and women who make up businesses, government and the media have an understanding and appreciation of the gender pay gap and women’s rights more broadly it will eventually translate to the eradication of the gender pay gap.
Gender Pay Gap also referred to as Gender wage gap, gender income difference or male-female income difference refers to the difference between the earning of men and women (Victoria, 2006). The European Union defines the Gender Pay gap as the difference between men and women’s hourly earnings (OECD, 2012). The difference may be measured on hourly, weekly, monthly, or yearly earning. The difference is expressed as a percentage of the men’s earning. However, the difference varies from one industry to another, from one country to another and from one age group to another. On average, men earn higher than women do across different sectors and nations.
Women are more than half the work force and are graduating at higher rates then men and continue to earn considerably less then men. There are several contributing factors to the gender wage gap. Women experience gender discrimination in the work force even though it’s been illegal since the Equal Pay Act in 1963. One of the challenges for women is uncovering discrimination. There is a lack of transparency in earnings because employees are either contractually prohibited or it’s strongly discouraged from being discussed. Discrimination also occurs in the restricting of women’s access to jobs with the highest commission payments, or access to lucrative clients.
One cannot begin the discussion of gender pay gap without defining it. Simply put, gender pay gap is the inequality between men and women wages. Gender pay gap is a constant international problem, in which women are paid, on average, less than that of their male counterpart. As to if gender pay gap still exist, its exactness fluctuates depending on numerous factors such as professional status, country and regional location, gender, and age. In regards to gender, in some cases, both men and women have stated that the gap does not exist. Due to various countries initiatives to shrink the wage inequality between men and women wages in the work force, the gap has narrowed, respectively, which may have helped form such opinion. However, stating that the gender pay gap does not exist in today’s society, anywhere, is completely unlikely. Seeing that the gap has loosened its grasp in the working world, in other countries, the gap between pay has widen or remained stagnant. One cannot help but wonder why the gap remains consistent even with such substantial progress made in countries where the gap has decreased.
The sexism and inequality intertwined with the work force is still a big problem today. Unlike in the early 1900’s, there is closer to an equal ratio of men to women in the work force. But women are still more present in typical jobs such as secretaries, nurses, and waitresses, whereas men are more present in jobs such as construction, CEO’s, and politicians. I experienced something similar at my place of work. I’m a barista at my local coffee shop, and all of my coworkers are female. Any time my boss is hiring, there are very few male resumes that come in. But if there are any mechanical problems, the first person she calls is her husband or father to come and fix it. This clear division between men and women is one of the causes of the gender gap. The gender gap is the difference in pay between men and women who work the same job. Unless something changes soon, the chances that I will be paid less than a male doing the same job in my future