Introduction
It is essential to state that the problem of gender inequality, although considerable progress was made in this field in the past century, continues to have a negative impact on various spheres of contemporary life. One of the most important areas of concern is the wage gap between men’s and women’s pay in Canada. This paper aims to provide comprehensive information about three principal factors that influence the current state of things.
Main body
The first factor, which contributes to the persistence of the wage gap between men’s and women’s pay in Canada, is the fact that women tend to work part-time jobs more often compared to men. The research by Fortin, Bell, and Böhm (2017) focuses on the investigation of earnings inequality in the context of gender differences. Throughout the paper, the authors mention several times that “the lower number of hours worked a year by women arises in part from the fact that more women than men work part-time rather than full-time” (Fortin, Bell, & Böhm, 2017, p. 112). It is possible to state that the underlying problem, which influences this aspect, is that a woman is still perceived as responsible for household work and childcare, and thus the majority of women have to lose their jobs when they have a baby.
The second important factor is the type of working occupations that men and women have. As it is mentioned on the Canadian Women’s Foundation website, the majority of women work in such settings as schools, nurseries, kindergartens, and nursing homes, where the wage is considerably lower compared to traditional men’s occupations such as a truck driver or building company’s employee (“The facts about the gender wage gap in Canada,” 2018).
The statistics reveal that males contribute as 97% of all truck drivers in Canada, earning a median salary of $45,417 per year, while 97% of early childhood educators in Canada are female, and they earn $25,335 per year on average (“The facts about the gender wage gap in Canada,” 2018). Thus, it is possible to conclude that women do not normally have access to higher-paid jobs, which significantly contributes to the overall earnings inequality.
The third factor is logically connected with the previous one. Why do women have to work lower-paid occupations if they could successfully participate in such jobs as construction company managers? Grant (2017) argues that the primary reason is that discrimination is still prevalent. The author states that even in situations when men and women do exactly the same job, women are perceived as less valuable and qualified (Grant, 2017).
Thus, the issue of gender inequality appears to be deeply rooted in sexism, which might not be expressed openly, but gender prejudice appears to be a persistent factor that influences the current state of the labor market in Canada. Grant (2017) suggests that discrimination and unconscious bias have a significant impact on the Canadian economy, contributing to one of the highest gender gaps in salary in the world.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it is possible to mention that factors that were discussed in this paper should be investigated as the complexity of different reasons. Thus, there is a chance to acquire a more comprehensive outlook on the current situation of earnings inequality in Canada. It is of high importance that the awareness about this problem was higher among the Canadian population. Therefore, it would be easier to eliminate the persisting wage gap between men’s and women’s salaries.
References
Fortin, N. M., Bell, B., & Böhm, M. (2017). Top earnings inequality and the gender pay gap: Canada, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. Labour Economics, 47, 107-123.
Grant, T. (2017). Gender pay gap a persistent problem in Canada: Statscan data. The Globe and Mail. Web.
The facts about the gender wage gap in Canada. (2018). Web.