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Society
Discrimination, Nine-to-Five
by Naunidhi Kaur
Women's
participation in the salaried workforce has been steadily increasing in
Canada since the 1960s. However, the facile image of a well-dressed
career girl, complete with a perfect chignon, tailored dress suit and
high heals, hides a reality that is diametrically different.
Reality is closer to what Toronto-based single mom Nicole Gorden, 39,
has been living after the end of her decade-long abusive marriage.
Gorden has two kids and works two part-time jobs to pay for the mounting
bills. And despite holding down her job as a personal support worker for
which she earns a minimum wage of nine dollars (US$1=CA$1.01) an hour,
she takes classes at a community college for a diploma in social service
to better her prospects. "I literally have to work around the clock to
put bread on the table," says a very exhausted Gorden. "Getting a degree
is important for me if I want to earn more and get out of the rut of
part -time jobs," she adds.
While women like Gorden desperately want to give up their low-paying
part-time jobs and move on, employers want to keep them where they are.
This is because with part-time work they don't have to worry about
paying perks like pension, Employment Insurance (EI) or paid vacation
time.
Still, Gorden feels there are many women who aren't as fortunate as her.
"If you're a woman at home raising children and you want to do something
- where do you start?" she asks. The work-family tug is not new to
women. Many serve as caregivers within their own households, doing the
all-important task of raising children or looking after the sick. This
seems to keep them away from the employment market.
This is what happened to Pallavi Bhatia, 30, who recently moved from
Chicago, U.S., to Toronto and chose to stay at home to take care of her
one-year-old son, Aadit. "Although I enjoy looking after my son, I
constantly fear that the longer I stay away from the job market the
harder it will be to get back," she says. Bhatia was working in the
travel industry before she left her job because of a difficult
pregnancy. Now, as a new immigrant in Canada, she feels she will be at a
disadvantageous position when she starts looking for a job.
And Bhatia's apprehensions may not be unfounded. The present
unemployment trends in Canada don't really paint a rosy picture for her.
According to a 2007 study by Statistics Canada, a federal government
statistics agency, immigrant women struggle the most in the labor
market. Among women between the ages of 25 and 54 years, who have been
in Canada for less than five years, the 2006 unemployment levels reached
13 per cent. Immigrant women between the ages of 15 and 24 years had
even less success in the workforce, with unemployment rates at 19.9 per
cent, double the rate of young Canadian-born women.
And this is where the news turns even more dismal. While women's
participation rate in the labor market has doubled in the last few
decades, it is also true that women account for 70 per cent of the
part-time workforce. Worse, they still continue to fill-up low paying
administrative jobs, with the more high-profile managerial positions
continuing to elude them. In cases where women are in higher positions
they have to live with a wage gap when compared to their male
colleagues. (Source: Statistics Canada)
According to the Labour Force Survey of Statistics Canada, in 2006, 58.3
per cent of women in Canada aged above 15 years were employed. Of the
two million employed women, 26 per cent worked less than 30 hours per
week at their main job, as opposed to just 11 per cent of the employed
men.
In 2005, Status of Women, a federal government agency promoting full
participation of women in public life, conducted a study on women and
employment. It found that men and women "inhabit two separate economies
in Canada". This is because all their lives women earn less than men do:
as new entrants in their 20s they get less income than men do. And as
they gain experience and knowledge this income gap continues to widen.
For instance, in 1997, the average earnings for all women were only 64
per cent of those of all employed men. Given that wages largely
determine access to pensions, EI and other social benefits, the wage gap
translates into a great cost for women. Even when they are able to get
jobs they find themselves concentrated in a small range of lower-paying,
traditionally female-dominated occupations: teaching, nursing and
related health occupations, clerical or other administrative positions,
and sales and service occupations.
Another industry that mainly employs women is the call centre sector.
There are a lot of women in marketing, selling, technical support,
customer service and reservations on phone jobs. Canada has
approximately 13,400 call centers. According to Oxfam Canada, an
international non-governmental organization, this work, which is mainly
done by the women, is "precarious labor." This is because it is
unstable, and workers lack a voice because they are not unionized and
receive low pay in relation to the number of hours they put in. Also,
not only are the women in this industry working under the constant
supervision of the manger who monitors all the calls, they also face a
lot of sexual harassment. Being subjected to irate and obscene callers
is common. And all this is on top of long working hours. Most call
centers are open 24 hours, seven days a week and the annual pay of the
workers ranges from $15,000 to $25,000, with those in administrative
positions being paid even less. Aside from the low monetary returns,
part time jobs are not held in high esteem.
Ultimately, it is the employers who have the last laugh. With the women
having no option but to join up, the employers get a reserve army of
workers who accept low wages and dismal working conditions.
In a move to reverse this trend, the federal budget released on February
26 this year included a commitment for an Action Plan to advance women's
equality. As part of the Plan, several programmes are expected to be
initiated to better the economic and social position of women.
July 13,
2008
By arrangement with
WFS
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