‘Poverty is sexist’

St. John’s Status of Women’s Council calls for stand-alone status of women minister to help address wage gap

Newfoundland and Labrador sees the highest wage gap between men and women in the country.

Women make $0.66 for every $1 made by men in this province, according to a campaign by the St. John’s Status of Women Council.

The phrase “poverty is sexist” appears in a 2015 study of the national and provincial wage gap written by Memorial University researcher Kerri Neil, published by the Collaborative Applied Research in Economics Centre.

The median income for women in N.L. in 2016-17 was $17.50 an hour, compared to $24.86 an hour for men, according to Neil’s study.

Jenny Wright, executive director of the St. John’s Status of Women Council, says the reason for the disparity is complex.

“A large part of our economy is driven by male-dominated, resource-based sectors. We’re talking fishery, oil and hydro, which tend to have been huge barriers for women,” Wright said.

“There’s other systemic factors. We have abysmal child care here, so women are unable to take full-time positions that are available. Over 60 per cent of minimum-wage jobs, parttime jobs, are filled by women.”

Neil’s study refers to women being pushed into “pink-collar” positions, which tend to earn a lower rate of pay.

In 2014, four occupation types saw 80 per cent of positions filled by women: child care and home support workers; assisting positions in health care; secretarial and administrative positions; and health care occupations. Of the four, only health care occupations saw weekly wages above the provincial average of $966. Child care workers, 96 per cent of whom were women in 2014, took home average weekly pay of $402.

Of the seven most maledominated fields, only one was below the provincial average weekly wage. Contractors and supervisors in trade and transportation, of whom almost 98 per cent are men, took home $1,624 in weekly pay, according to Neil’s study.

Wright says part of the answer is removing barriers to women joining the historically more lucrative male-dominated fields. Another answer to the disparity can come from legislation.

She points to Iceland as one jurisdiction with gender-equity legislation that came into effect this year and is making a difference in how women are paid compared to men.

Wright says governmentmandated transparency legislation could help move the needle in the equitable direction.

“Unless it’s legislated that this is a human rights issue, that this is a labour rights issue that businesses must follow, it’s not going to happen naturally,” she said.

Finance Minister Tom Osborne was unavailable on Thursday to discuss the issues raised by the Status of Women Council, but issued a statement related to how the government tackles the issue within its own walls.

“Government has instituted measures to support women in the workforce, including flexible work arrangements and the recently announced harassment-free workplace policy to ensure all employees are safe at work,” read the statement. “We will continue to work towards gender equality by evaluating workforce practices to ensure that we advance the social, economic, legal and cultural status of women and girls in the province.”

Siobhan Coady, Minister Responsible for the Status of Women, was unavailable for comment on Thursday. Her department did not issue a statement relating to the campaign.

Wright says she is frustrated by a lack of focus by Status of Women ministers historically. Since Wright became executive director of the council, she says, she has seen seven ministers come into the portfolio, which has dampened progress.

She says it’s time for a standalone Status of Women minister, to allow for a focus on such large issues.