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Women
& Paid Work
Related section>> Where
Manitoba Women Work
Women make tremendous contributions
to the economy through their paid work. Women work in a wide
variety of occupations around the world from teachers and
secretaries to welders and doctors to machine operators and
child care workers. Women's access to paid work is crucial
to their efforts for economic equality and to their sense
of self. But women's paid work is generally valued as less
important than men's. Women still earn considerably less than
men and often find themselves in low-status jobs with few
benefits.
At one time work was structured very
differently than it is today. In subsistence economies (see
Economic Systems for more on
this), people's ability to work hard was directly related
to their chances of survival. All members of a community worked
to the best of their ability performing the tasks necessary
for life, including food-production and gathering, construction
of shelters, and the reproduction of life. Work was not structured
in 9-5 work days but intermingled with socializing and play.
During the Industrial Age, work was moved from home and farm,
to factories and office buildings. Instead of working for
their own immediate needs, people began to work for money
which was later exchanged for food, housing, and other necessities.
As society moved from a goods-based economy to a money-based
economy, women were sidelined. Men went into the factories
and offices and received payment for the services they provided;
women stayed home and continued on the work of reproduction
and care of home and community but received no pay. When women
did start to enter the paid workforce their incomes were considered
supplementary to their husband's or father's and their work
was seen as an extension of their unpaid work at home. As
a result, the work they did was assigned a lesser monetary
value than men's work. Today women's paid work remains chronically
and systematically underpaid, and much of their work remains
entirely unpaid. (More on Women's
Unpaid Work.)
As the saying goes, "Every woman
is a working woman." But labour force statistics do not
show this. Instead they show the number of women working for
pay. In 1996, 59% of all Canadian women were participating
in the paid labour force in contrast to 74% of men. These
women made up 46% of the paid labour force, a huge increase
from 1891 when women made up 13% of the paid labour force
in Canada. How do these numbers compare to the rest of the
world?
Number of
women in the paid work force
While some things have changed in
the past 110 years, others have stayed the same. Women still
find themselves over-represented in 'traditional' occupations
of keeping house and shop, taking care of children, and sewing
clothes.
Leading
female occupations in Canada in 1891 and 2001
| 1891 |
2001 |
servant
|
clerical worker |
| dressmaker |
secretary |
| teacher |
sales clerk |
| farmer |
teacher |
| seamstress |
child care and/or domestic
worker |
| tailoress |
nurse |
| saleswoman |
food and beverage server |
| housekeeper |
cashier |
| laundress |
retail food
& accommodation manager |
| milliner |
machine operator |
In 1996, seventy percent of Canadian
women in the paid work force were in teaching, nursing and
related health services, clerical, administrative, sales and
service occupations. While things are changing, they aren't
changing fast. To read about one Canadian initiative designed
to expand women's opportunities in non-traditional fields
visit
Vancouver
Island Highway brings changing face of labour to construction.
To see exactly where women in Manitoba are working visit Where
Manitoba Women Work.
 While
women in Canada have moved into many fields which were once
male-dominated, the sexual division of labour is still
very real. Pink-collar job is one term used to describe
low-status, low-paying, female-dominated occupations like
secretaries, salesclerks, and food servers. For many women
the choice of this work is determined more by economic necessity
than career choices. This kind of work also more easily allows
them to leave the workforce for a time while they are having
children and return when their children are older.
While women across the world are found in a wide variety of
occupations, pink-collar jobs and job ghettos exist in every
country. Here are some examples:
Global Job Ghettos for Women
- United Kingdom - office-cleaning
While women make up nearly 40% of
the global paid workforce, they earn only 26% of the world's
income.1 In Canada,
women earn an average of 72 cents for every dollar that a
man earns. Female-dominated professions in general are valued
much lower than male-dominated professions. Child care workers
are paid on par with parking lot attendants, plumbers earn
more than nurses. Men outnumber women in each of the ten highest
paid occupations in Canada while women outnumber men in all
but one of the ten lowest paid occupations. In both the highest
and lowest paid occupations in Canada, women in these occupations
earn less than men in the same occupation. For example, female
food and beverage servers earn 76% of what male servers earn
while female dentists earn 66% of what male dentists earn.
See Men, Women, and the Highest and
Lowest Paid Occupations in Canada for more.
Women are seen as a source of cheap labour across the globe;
they are overrepresented in the informal sector and in Canada
they make up 70% of the part-time work force.2
They also make up 2/3 of minimum wage earners in Canada putting
women at great risk of poverty. See Women,
Poverty, and Minimum Wage.
 Globally
the gender gap in wages is hard to determine because so much
data is not available. Within the industrial and services
sector, the gap ranges between 53% and 97% with an average
of 78%. The chart below shows what the wage gap in industry, services,
and manufacturing looked like around the world circa 1997.
The Global Wage Gap
Numbers given indicate women's earnings as compared to men's,
by percentage. In Australia, for example, women involved in
industry and services earned 90% of male wages.
| |
Industry
& Services |
Manufacturing |
| Australia |
90
|
85 |
| Egypt |
97 |
74 |
| El Salvador |
89 |
95 |
| Eritrea |
58 |
no
data |
| Korea |
62 |
56 |
| Latvia |
80 |
89 |
| Portugal |
67 |
69 |
| Sri Lanka |
90 |
85 |
| Swaziland |
no
data |
71 |
| Sweden |
no
data |
90 |
Source: UNIFEM Biennial Report. Progress
of the World's Women, 2000.
Women encounter certain obstacles
and barriers that keep them from workplaces as well as challenges
and hazards within the workplace. One of the biggest obstacles
that keep women away from the workforce is the absence of
quality, affordable child care. This is especially critical
for women in rural areas and for single mothers trying to
fit in the demands of paid and unpaid work. (See Caring
for Children for more.)
Another obstacle women face is their reduced access to training
and education - this is a major impediment to accessing good
paying jobs.
Sexism is not the only barrier to
women's participation in the paid labour force. Racism and
ableism (discrimination against people living with disabilities)
also limit women's ability to secure good employment. Women
in rural areas also face limited opportunities. For more on
these experiences visit our section on Women's
Different Experiences.
 Within
the work place women are at risk of sexual harassment and
in some cases sexual abuse. At the same time paid work can
give the self-confidence and financial independence they need
to leave abusive situations at home. Women who do paid work
in the home, for example piece work in the garment industry,
are also at risk. They have few outlets for emotional and
physical support and protection should their homes not be
safe places for them.
Women working in nontraditional fields stand out and
are sometimes taunted by their male co-workers. Diane (see
Diane's Story) got used to being
singled-out by her colleagues when she worked as a drywaller
- she was usually the only woman on the job. Women in professional
fields face sexist attitudes that prevent them from reaching
upper-level management positions. Sometimes this is called
hitting the glass ceiling - an invisible yet very real
barrier that prevents women from advancing past a certain
level of pay and responsibility. Some women are unable to
accept the positions they'd like to hold because of responsibilities
at home. For many women the choice between career and family
is a difficult one.
Women also have a higher incidence of disability resulting
from workplace injury than men. At age 35 the disability claim
incidence rate for women in Canada is three times greater
than for men.3 While
women may live longer than men, they do experience more years
in poorer health. Globally women are at risk of injury in
demanding export-oriented industries. Vegetable pickers suffer
from pesticide poisoning and garment workers and other machine
operators experience carpal tunnel syndrome and other skeletal-muscular
disorders from repetitive work. Garment workers are also at
risk of poisoning from the dyes used on clothing like stone-washed
jeans. (Visit Globalization to
learn more.)
Despite the hazards paid work is a
tremendously important part of many women's lives offering
many benefits. The economic security provided by earning one's
own income can give women the strength to leave abusive relationships,
the opportunity to provide fully for their children, and the
freedom and self-confidence to choose the course of their
lives. Paid work can give women intellectual and physical
challenges, a social atmosphere, and the satisfaction of feeling
that they are contributing to the economy and being remunerated
for that.
While women face barriers within
the paid workforce, they are finding many ways to get around
these. Women's income in comparison to men's has increased
significantly over the last several decades as have their
career options. Women have also shown spectacular success
in running their own businesses.
Entrepreneurship offers many women
a way to balance work and home responsibilities. For Robin
(see Robin's story) who suffers from
severe chemical allergies, starting her own business was a
way to create a chemically-safe place for her to earn an income.
It also gave her a chance to use her massage therapy and other
healing skills that had few other outlets.
 When
Carmen (see Carmen's story)) lost
her government job due to a change in government, she and
a friend decided to chance taking an entrepreneurial course.
A high-school drop-out, Carmen now runs two successful companies.
Despite her success Carmen has dealt with her share of discriminatory
comments. Although her own mother was a successful entrepreneur
in the 1960s, family members still ask, "When are you
going to get a real job?" Carmen recalls a man at her
first Chamber of Commerce meeting saying, "Well that's
a really nice hobby you girls are getting into." Following
her own experiences as a woman in business, Carmen became
a co-founding chair of the Women's
Enterprise Centre of Manitoba.
Carmen
credits women's business success to the fact that women start
smaller, are better planners and more organized, and start
later in life. While Canadian men are slightly more likely
to start their own businesses than Canadian women, women's
businesses are more likely to succeed. Globally women are
also daring to strike out on their own. To read about some
of the successes of women in Kenya visit Women's
World Banking. To hear from two other enterprising Manitoba
women see:
Lori Ann's story
Darlene's
story
Women's work is adjusting to the
demands and effects of economic globalization. To read about
some recent trends in women's paid and unpaid work stemming
from globalization visit Globalization
and Women's Work.
Visit this link to learn more about women and paid work:
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