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Gender pay gap in Canada is getting worse: report

Anecdotally, it seems that we're a lot closer to gender equality than we were in the 70s, 80s and even the 90s.

After all, we see more women in prominent positions in the business world, in politics and in education.

But according to a new report by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, we've still got a long way to go.

In the report, titled "A Growing Concern", the left-leaning think-tank claims that the gender pay gap — the difference between what men and women make in average annual salary — is actually growing.

"Last year, using average annual earnings of Ontario men and women, we reported that Ontario gender pay gap was 28 per cent — that, on average, women
made 72 cents for every man’s dollar," notes the report, released on Tuesday.

"A year later, we find the gap has grown to 31.5 per cent — on average, women made 68.5 cents for every man’s dollar in 2011.

"In dollar terms: men’s average annual earnings increased by $200 — from $48,800 in 2010 to $49,000 in 2011 — but women’s average earnings decreased
by $1,400 — from $35,000 in 2010 to $33,600 in 2011."

It's a similar story across the country.

In 2011 (the most recent data is available) Canadian women earned on average $32,100, down from $32,600 in 2010. Meanwhile the average Canadian male earned $48,100 in 2011 up from $47,800 in the previous year.

The report's release comes one day before what the Ontario government has officially proclaimed as Equal Pay Day — a day to recognize the longer time women need to work into the new year to make what men earned by the end of 2013.

"Taken over the course of a lifetime," notes the report, "Ontario’s gender pay gap means women would have to work the equivalent of 14 years longer after age 65 to make what men earn on average by age 65."

[ Related: Canada’s gender pay gap: Who is to blame? ]

Why the gender pay gap exists has become an age old debate in this country.

There is a school of thought that gender pay is a function of women's behaviour. Statistics show that women traditionally choose lower paying fields in the service or non-profit sectors.

There's also a lot of literature out there about women making accommodations -- more so than men do — to raise a family which invariably affects their earning potential.

But Mary Cornish, the report's author, suggests that doesn't explain why, even within the same occupational categories, women, on average, still earn less than men.

More importantly, Cornish says, it's time to advance the discussion to how we value certain services in society.

"Historically...anything associated with being a women has historically been undervalued which was the basis of the Pay Equity Act," she told Yahoo Canada News in a telephone interview.

As an example, Cornish cites the difference between what a government-funded female home care worker makes in Ontario versus a constable in the male-dominated Ontario Provincial Police Department. According to her figures, the former makes about $15 hour while the latter makes approximately $51 per hour.

"Is her work really one-third the value of [constable's]work," Cornish asks.

"That's the kind of things we want to look at that. Are we asking women to do this work and assuming that it's not as valuable?

"People who have their parents in retirement homes and nursing homes know that those personal support persons are pretty important."

[ Related: Canada ranks 20th in world for gender equality: WEF ]

In the report, Cornish outlines a "10-step blue print" to close the gender gap in Ontario. She recommends things like increasing the minimum wage, expanded pay equity laws, affordable child care and a renewed focus by policy makers to close the gender pay gap within government-funded bodies.

Unfortunately, the battle for gender equality continues.

The full study can be read here.

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