Women still making less than men, report says
The Canadian Press/Globe and Mail
March 7, 2008

OTTAWA — A new report says women are still getting paid less than men, regardless of talent, education or experience.

And the report by the Canadian Labour Congress says women who put off starting a family so they could earn a degree and build a career over the last 10 years are actually worse off than they were before.

It says the wage gap between them and their male counterparts has grown.

The CLC report, coinciding with International Women's Day on Saturday, found that women in Canada who worked full-time, full-year jobs in 2005 earned just 70 cents for every dollar earned by men.

The report says full-time working women earned an average of $39,200 in 2005 compared with $55,700 for men — a wage gap of $16,500.

There were two times more men earning over $60,000 a year than women, and far more women than men worked at jobs that earned less than $35,000.

The majority of people working for minimum wage were women…

 “As the report shows, the jobs women hold in Canada today mean they get paid less,” the labour congress said in a release. “These jobs also mean fewer women are able to access benefits through the federal government's Employment Insurance program.

“It means fewer women have the savings they need when they retire.”

The group notes that the wage gap between women and men is smaller in unionized workplaces.

The report makes several recommendations…

• Raise the minimum wage to at least $10 an hour.

• Improve public pension plans so women, who live longer, aren't penalized for taking time away from the workforce to care for children.

• Improve access to quality and affordable child care; the report says two-thirds of women with children under the age of six are working outside the home….