HAMILTON’S TROUBLING GENDER WAGE GAP

In the parts of the city with the lowest average income, women are closer to having wage parity with men. The higher the average income, the greater the income gap between women and men.

THERE’S

A STORY OF WAGE PARITY between the genders to be told in Hamilton but it’s not exactly an uplifting story.

Here’s the cruel twist: the lower the earnings, the closer women are to having wage parity with men in Hamilton.

And the reverse is true too. The higher the earnings, the bigger the gap between men and women.

In the lower part of the former City of Hamilton, which has the lowest average income of the city’s various pieces, women earn about 80 per cent of what men earn.

In the neighbourhood surrounding Hamilton City Hall bounded by Queen Street South, King Street West, James Street and Hunter Street West, women actually out-earn men by 6 per cent, one of only two neighbourhoods in the city where women earn more than men.

But that neighbourhood also has the lowest average income — and by far — of the city’s 140 census tracts.

Meanwhile, in Ancaster, which has the highest average income in the city, women earn just 67 per cent of what men earn. In Flamborough, women earn just 66 per cent of what men earn.

IT SHOWS that when you’re at the bottom of the pay totem pole, there’s not a lot of manoeuvring to be done.

When workers are close to minimum wage, there’s not much room for differentiation between the sexes. As well, income that comes from government sources, such as Employment Insurance, pensions or Ontario Works, also doesn’t differentiate between genders.

“As you have more room in your payroll, then you have this phenomenon where women’s skills are consistently devalued over men’s skills,” said Sara Mayo, a planner with the Social Planning and Research Council of Hamilton.