1. Issues in Human Services
(HMNS 10085)
Module 4: Issues Pertaining to
Women
2. Defining Gender Inequality
• Unequal treatment or opportunities
• Unequal outcomes
• Division of labour – Women dominate work in private sphere> in
the home or caregiving roles
– Men dominate work in public sphere> paid, labour
market employment, politics
• Public sphere tends to be more valued than the
private
3. Sexism
• Belief in the inferiority of women
• Patriarchy - belief in the inferiority of
women has led to our society being
organized around prioritizing male interests
• Gender expectations > socially constructed
4. Struggle For Gender Equality: Royal
Commission on the Status of Women
• 1960s - consciousness raising
• Led to federal inquiry > Royal Commission
on the Status of Women
• Many of the 170 recommendations made in
this commission have not been implemented
– > gender equality in Canada remains unrealized
5. The Struggle For Gender
Equality: Employment Equity
• The Employment Equity Act, 1986
• Federally regulated places of employment, women
(as well as Aboriginal peoples, people with
disabilities, or are members of a visible minority)
not only given equal consideration for
employment opportunities, but to be hired, where
qualified, when competing with a male for a job
• Workplace should reflect the population
6. The Struggle For Gender Equality:
Beijing Platform for Action
• 1995
• Sustainable societies could only be
achieved through achieving equality
between men & wome
• Canada is a signatory to this action plan
7. Gender Inequality &
Other “Isms”
• Second wave of the women’s movement of
the 1960s & 70s - predominantly a white
women’s movement
– Minority women, Aboriginal women, women
with disabilities, & LGBTQ women as distinct
groups of women didn’t tend to be included
• Also experience other forms of inequality &
oppression such as: racism, ethnocentrism,
heterosexism and ablism.
8. What gains towards equality have
been made?
• Women are achieving higher levels of
education
• Rate of men earning university degrees has
not kept pace with women
• Women more likely to earn a College
diploma
• Despite this, women with university degrees
earn less than their male counterparts
9. What gains towards equality have
been made?
• More women are working in the paid work
force
• More mothers with children under 16 are
working in the paid work force
• More women work part time than men
• The number of women in management has
increased
10. Where women haven’t achieved
equality in the work force:
• Women are still more likely to be working
in traditionally “female jobs” of caring
professions (eg. nursing), clerical or sales
and service jobs
• More management level jobs are in lower
management rather than upper management
• Women newcomers to Canada - less likely
to be employed than women born in Canada
11. Feminization of Poverty
• Women are more likely to live in poverty than
men
• Gendered wage gap - the difference in total
average income between men and women
• 2008 - in all age groups, a gendered wage gap
exists > women earned 64% of the total incomes
of men
• Comparing women working full-time, full-year,
the wage gap was 71%
• Comparing hourly wages, women still earned on
average 83.3% of men
12. Feminization of Poverty
• Gendered wage gap has lessened over the past few
decades
• 1981 - women earned 53.2% as much total
average earnings as men
• 1991 - increased to 60.1%
• Alternate reasons?
– Men are not doing we well in the labour market
– Unionization for men has decreased
– Men are occupying fewer management level jobs
13. Feminization of Poverty
• Women still have primary responsibility for
caregiving to children
• 2010 - women spent an average of 50.1 hours per
week providing care to children 14 & younger
– More than double that of men (24.4 hours)
• In dual income earning families, women worked
49.8 hrs/week providing care to children while
men provided 27.2 hours.
14. Feminization of Poverty
• Women tend to be responsible for other unpaid
work in households, even when both members in a
heterosexual couple work full time:
– 13.8 hours/week on domestic housework
– Men spend 8.6 hours/week
• 14% of women & 9% of men provide care to an
older adult outside of their homes
– 49% of these women provide >10 hours/week
– 25% of men provide > 10 hours/week
15. Feminization of Poverty
• Consequences of having primary responsibility for
unpaid childcare, housework and care of older
adults:
– Higher expectation on women to reduce paid work
(quitting, taking emergency time off or leaves, refuse
promotions) to provide care
– Less pay, less accumulation of retirement benefits, less
career advancement & opportunities for pay increases
– More stress to balance these responsibilities
16. Barriers to Workforce
Participation: Day Care
• Royal Commission on the Status of Women
recommended a national child care program
• There is still not a universal child care
program 40 years after this recommendation
was made
17. Day Care
• Early Years Report
• “…critical periods for which children required
appropriate stimulation to establish neural
pathways in the brain for optimum development.”
• If not received, children are more at risk for
behavioural difficulties, learning problems, &
potentially, interactions with the criminal justice
system
• May also be more at risk for later chronic health
issues
18. Other Recommendations From
“Early Years”:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
The establishment of an early learning and parenting
program for the early years that utilizes play-based
learning to optimize development
The establishment of local planning committees to
oversee local development of these programs
Collaboration with school boards in the provision of
these programs
Integrate kindergarten into this framework
Provide training for early childhood educators and all
educators on the new findings regarding brain
development in the early years.
Extend maternity/parental leaves up to one year
The fostering of family friendly workplaces
19. Early Learning and Child Care
• An early learning and child care program was
proposed by the Canadian governmet of Paul
Martin in the early 2000s
– Agreement with the provinces was reached in 2005 to
establish a national early learning and child care system
• 2006, new government favoured a direct payment
to parents of $100 per child per month > Universal
Child Care Benefit
– Highly criticised
20. Current State of Child Care in
Canada
• ~80% of child care is provided in unregulated or informal
settings
• Increase in the numbers of spots have slowed considerably
since 2006
• 2007-8, the increase in the number of regulated spaces for
ECEC was 29, 271. The number of spots required was
65,337
• 2008 - UNICEF ranked Canada last for provision of ECEC
programs among 25 developed countries
• Child care is not adequate and the rights of children, as
well as women, are being compromised.
21. Current State of Child Care in
Canada
• Cost - average cost of child care in Ontario is $814
per child, but rates are variable
Net Family Income
20,000
30,000
40,000
50,000
60,000
70,000
Daily Child Care Fee
$0
$4
$8
$19
$31
$42
*This is for regulated child care only
**Child care costs may push middle income earners
into relative poverty
22. The Special Case of Child Care
& Education in Quebec
• In 2005, Quebec enacted an early childhood
education program consisting of:
–
–
–
–
Preschool care for infants & toddlers
Before & after school care for school-aged children
Administration through local school authorities
Full day kindergarten for 5 year olds
• Since 2006, the work force participation rate of
mothers with children 0 & 6 years has increased
11%
– For mothers of school-aged children, 14%
23. Changes in Ontario
• Full day kindergarten started to be rolled out in
select schools in 2010(JK & SK)
• Each year, more schools are being added
• Play-based learning
• Includes a certified teacher & ECEC educator in
each classroom
• Fee-based before & after-school care as well
• Promotes the integration of child care & early
childhood education
24. Sexual Harassment
• Defined as,
“any unwanted sexually-based or sexuallyoriented [behaviour] which creates
discomfort and threatens a [person’s] well
being”. (Kadar, 1988, p. 339).
25. Sexual Harassment
• It can include:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Verbal abuse
Jokes & other sexual comments
Spreading rumours of sexual acts or involvement
Leering
Touching
Unnecessary contact
Display of pornographic material
Sexual assault
Threat of retaliation
• 97% of the complaints to the Canadian Human Rights
Commission in the late ‘80s were made by women against
males.
26. Sexual Harassment
• Migrant female workers & temporary workers are more at
risk
• Many complaints are not made due to workers fearing the
effects of job loss
• Impacts of sexual harassment -> Sexual harassment
syndrome - depression, eating & sleeping problems, ulcers
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2011/11/07/b
27. Reading
• Turner, J. & Turner, F. (2009). Canadian Social
Welfare, 6th Ed. Toronto: Pearson Education
Canada. Ch. 9.
• View “Fifth Estate” documentary on Sexual
Harassment in the RCMP, “Behind the Line”,
December 9, 2011
http://www.cbc.ca/video/#/Shows/the_fifth_estate/1278707885/ID