British Columbia worst province in Canada for gender gap in hourly wages: Statistics Canada
Credit to Author: David Carrigg| Date: Tue, 08 Oct 2019 00:53:57 +0000
Women in British Columbia are earning on average almost 20 per cent less per hour than men, the largest gender pay gap in Canada.
A Statistics Canada report released on Monday (The gender wage gap in Canada: 1998 to 2018) showed that on average, Canadian women earned $4.13 (13.3 per cent) less per hour than their male counterparts, with women in B.C. facing the largest gap (18.9 per cent), followed by women in Alberta (17.6 per cent). Prince Edward Island was the only province where there was no wage gap between the sexes.
The report found that Canadian women aged between 25 to 54 earned on average $26.92 an hour in 2018, compared to men who earned on average $31.05, or 13.3 per cent less. In 1998 the difference was 18.8 per cent. The average wage for a man in B.C. in 2018 was $31.73 compared to $25.83 for a woman.
“Given that women in Canada have surpassed men in educational achievement, diversified their fields of study at post-secondary institutions and increased their representation in higher-status occupations the persistence of gender-based wage inequality warrants continued attention,” the report states.
The reduction in gender gap was attributed to changes in the distribution of men and women across occupations, increased academic achievements by women and a fall in the share of men in unionized employment.
Factors that led to the continued gaps were the number of women working part time and the distribution of man and women across industries, with construction, manufacturing and mining remaining higher-paid male-dominated industries.
The report, funded by the Department for Women and Gender Equality Canada, stated that just over half the gender wage gap in B.C. could be explained — primarily because of the prevalence of male-dominated industries — but the balance was unexplained.
“As seen in the national results, gender differences in occupation and industry were an important factor in explaining the wage cap in 2018 in all provinces with a wage gap. Gender differences in human capital and job attributes generally counteracted the gender wage gap, leaving a notable portion of the provincial gaps unexplained,” the report stated.