Has Work Become More Insecure and Unequal in Canada? Essay

1. Roy, Gabrielle. The Tin Flute. Translated by Alan Brown. Toronto: McCelland & Stewart Inc., 1989

inequality, in the sense that not all people are equal and they should not be equal.

Women are expected to cook, clean, bear children, and be emotionally available to nurture all family members. The activities that are associated with womanhood maintain, sustain, and reproduce the labor force, which fuels patriarchal capitalism (Dill, 2011, p. 256). The separation of men and women in the workforce was common in the past, the majority of blue and white-collar workers were men; more specifically white men. The workers in pink-collar jobs, such as elementary, middle and high school teachers mainly consisted of white women. However, looking at the situation that present-day women face, it would be not only naïve, but also highly offensive to say that women are only capable of cooking and cleaning. The rise of employed women has increased due to the drastically changing economy. In addition, people of color occupy more that a third of the labor force

As part of the larger movement for equal rights, this feminist mobilization focused on a broad spectrum of economic, political, and cultural dimensions of the distribution of power that entailed the discrimination of women. Political struggles targeted the stigmatization of women as caregivers and the devalorization of this role in relation to that of the male breadwinner, a mainstream culture of sexism permeating all spheres of life and cutting across income and educational levels, as well as women’s unequal access to and unequal positioning within the labor market. (Azmanova 751)

Another way that the Canadian government can address income inequality as a social determinant of health is to increase equity for education. Post-secondary education is critical in determining an individual’s career success; a higher level of education results in higher earnings, which in turn result in better health. In Canada, provincial governments play a decisive role in student enrolment and the government should invest in early childhood education as a long-term educational benefit. Not only does education impact income on an individual level, but people with low educational attainment also limit an economy’s capacity to produce and grow. Therefore, increasing equity in education will help to decrease the problem of income inequality.

The United States exhibits the trend of the “feminization of poverty”, a powerful phrase coined by Diana Pierce to exhibit the increasing number of women and children in poverty. Among the causes of this problem is a “dual labor market that actively discriminates against female workers” (Leventman 1988: 197). The average American woman is only paid 77 cents to every working man’s dollar (Alter 2014). Men today make more than women, despite women having the same amount of educational achievement. In fact, in 2011, men with only a bachelor’s degree made more than women with graduate degrees (Alter 2014). In 2013, full-time working men made $50,033 compared to just $39,157 for full-time working women (Cook 2014). In America today, the problem of poverty in the lives of women and children is attributed to different aspects of gender stratification as well as gender inequality. Poverty will continue until women are equal to men in terms of power, wealth, and other

(Australian Human Rights Commission, 2013) Gender inequality is everywhere and affects nearly all women today, especially in the workforce. A known fact to everyone is that women still get paid less for men. On average, women take home $283.20 less than men weekly. The Australian gender pay gap is 18.2% which means for every $1 men earn, women earn only 82 cents. This pay gap has been approximately 15 – 18% for the past 20 years. Australian women have to work an extra 66 days a year to earn the same money men earn for the same job. This number is ridiculous. And if people were to think that gender inequality only exist in the workforce and ends when you finish work, they’d be incredibly wrong, in fact most violence towards women is the cause of someone within their own home. Across Australia 1 in 3 women over the age of 15 had received physical violence in the last 5 years. In 2009-2010, elderly women were receiving just over half (57%) of retirement payouts than men. Men gained $198,000 while women received $112,000. It is said that a retired woman is more likely to experience poverty and be much more reliant on the age pension. This proves that gender equality is following every woman everywhere and hasn’t ended since the

Canada is a country where the healthcare system is envied by many, but there exist some problems. In Canada, an existing intervention is intended to improve health inequities is healthy eating and physical activity. According to Gore & Kothari (2012), “the best way to describe this issue IS to look at why the influence of nutrition and physical activity inequities was a problem with preventing chronic diseases or improving overall health as a concern”. The country looks at chronic illness by examining those who use alcohol and tobacco to determine a healthy initiative to promote healthy eating and physical activity. In improving this social determinant, several initiatives were reviewed and analyzed from descriptive codes that described this problem. Lifestyle and environment based were used to look at the causes of this health inequity. An explanation of inequities is that poor people don’t have an

Women are more prone to live in low income circumstances than men, hence introducing the social problem of gender discrimination. Women have been discriminated in the workplace over time in that they are paid less than men in specific jobs and are not seen to be ‘suited’ to particular jobs, especially in the manufacturing and trade industries. Marxist feminist Margaret Benston believed that women were oppressed by capitalism in that they were treated almost as a back-up, or secondary option of cheap labour that enabled profits to be kept up. ‘In 1994, 6.41 million women were in low-paid jobs and on average women’s full-time gross weekly pay was 72 percent of that of men’(Kane, 2003:115).

Gender inequality has been a long part of Canada’s history with men being the dominant decision makers. Women have had to fight long hard battles and overcome numerous obstacles to prove themselves and demonstrate that they are equal to men and not inferior. Over the course of a century women have achieved suffrage and have become increasingly visible in the political and economic sectors. Despite all the achievements women have made barriers remain in effect leaving women at a social, economic and political disadvantage even in the twenty-first century. The primary obstacles in achieving gender equality are the noticeable absence of women in authoritative economic and political positions, unfair social stereotypes that are still

Our society has the belief that women have always been portrayed as weak, emotional, and powerless. Throughout this article by Tavia Grant, it shows how women do not get the same opportunities men receive. Statistically shown, women are still earning less money than men regardless to the amount of education they possess (Grant). Women are accepted to hold obligations regarding family tasks while the men do the providing in the family. The article shows the disadvantages women have in Canada compared to men, however, it also shows gender inequality and gender discrimination.

Institution, ones traditions, and everyday lives are filled with examples of men in positions of authority over women” (Kay, 2012). Inequalities in gender can be seen in marriage as well as parenting. It is believed that by many that a man should have a higher income than a female. In some cases women are being paid less than men in their work place and yet they hold the same credentials as men, this is where secondary status comes in. In most households it’s the female who cooks and clean look after the kids while the men work but roles can be divided when faced with certain duties, to accommodate one another. “Gender inequality forms the basis of sexism, misogynist and the prejudiced beliefs that males overpower females” (Anon. 2016).

The Women’s Liberation Movement greatly impacted Australia and the United States throughout the 60’s and 70’s carrying on to the 90’s. Without the Women’s Liberation Movement women wouldn’t have received changes in laws primarily regarding employment impacting on them moving forward in terms of equal opportunities. However there is still a there is still process to be made concerning employment and social roles for women to have equal rights as men. The Women’s Liberation Movement started in the 60’s during the second wave of feminism. Even though the 70’s were a time of change, both Australia and the United States saw women remaining in low status roles and staying primarily in the domestic sphere. The 90’s however saw a dramatic change in the amount of women employed and working more so in the domestic sphere.

The generation now has made it easier to equalize men and women but there is still a substantial amount of places where gender inequality is still happening in the workplace and where females still face discrimination. Women are often discriminated in the workplace and are usually not promoted as quickly as men are and they also receive less pay. History shows that women have not always been defined as property and thought of as second class citizens. But in the 21st century many have seen a drastic change in the so called “traditional” family ways where women are suppose to stay home and take care of the household chores, food, and children and men are suppose to work to support their family and provide financial stability. Many assume that in the workplace women are more vulnerable and less competent than men because women 's instincts are to put their family before work or anything else. Whereas men are the ones who will usually stay the late hours to work. People on both sides of the political spectrum and everywhere in between seem to be fearful of what is to come and more fearful of others than they are often willing to admit.

The mainstream media is one of the most popular, prominent ways people get their information about social issues, government action, and the general knowledge about what is happening in the world. A topic that has received a quite a large amount of media coverage in history, throughout the years, and currently, is gender inequality. Specifically, the issue of women being stereotyped into traditional “home” roles and not being able to join the work force or, rather, being pressured not to attempt to join. This particular issue has definitely lost much of its ammunition with the breaking of traditional gender roles in the past few decades, the successes of women’s movements and the overall national attitudes. However, not all of the stereotypes have been destroyed, and while women have entered the workforce, they are still being paid less than men for the same work. The lingering inequality of the past and the pay gap are huge issues covered by mainstream media in mostly constructive ways, and it should be receiving much more attention than it has in the past.