Women's Precarity Analysis

McDonalds, Wal-Mart, and cleaning services: all of these have one thing in common-they are all minimum wage jobs. Their pay is low and work load high, and because of this living as a low wageworker is never easy. One must handle many hardships in order to make a few meager dollars, with which most cannot sufficiently live. 'The 'living wage' in the United States is between $9-10.18; sounds great to a college student, but in the real world this kind of money just isn't going to cut it,' (Ramisch). Minimum wage standards for American workers rest at $5.15 per hour, and in such slighted fields, very few make much more than that, perhaps $6-7, but even that is a rarity. The material life of a low-income employee includes bare necessities

Furthermore the high income inequality is not the only issue Canadian families are facing, with enormous cutbacks from the government, Canadians are facing a lot more precarious times. The government has been reducing the economic security and access to public and social services has also been undermined many of the statutory benefits people use to enjoy in the past. Part of this problem with has to do with the employers and media idea of “flexibility”. Employers and the media often claim that the "flexibility" provided by precarious employment offers workers improved work-family balance and other lifestyle benefits. The reality, however, is that 1/3 of adult women who work part-time said they would prefer to work full-time, and this proportion

Poverty is a significant threat to women’s equality. In Canada, more women live in poverty than men, and women’s experience of poverty can be harsher, and more prolonged. Women are often left to bear more burden of poverty, leading to ‘Feminization of poverty’. Through government policy women inequality has resulted in more women and children being left in poverty with no means of escaping. This paper will identify some key aspects of poverty for Canadian women. First, by identifying what poverty entails for Canadian women, and who is more likely to feel the brunt of it. Secondly the discussion of why women become more susceptible to poverty through government policy and programs. Followed by the effects that poverty on women plays in

(8:225) A study by Landy, Sword and Ciliska analyzing data from a cross-sectional mother-infant survey in Ontario found that the majority of women born abroad in their study were socio-economically disadvantaged, which could relate to underemployment, unemployment or unpaid maternity leave. (Landy:6-7) In a meta-ethnography of immigrant women’s experiences with maternity services in Canada, Higginbottom et al synthesized the effects of socioeconomic factors into the following specific barriers: issues with transportation, precarious employment and unstable housing. (Higginbottom2014:554) Although immigrant women were more likely to report a need for financial aid during the first four weeks following hospital discharge, Sword found that they were three times less likely to be able to access required financial assistance compared to Canadian-born women.

Since universal suffrage, women have made tremendous economic and social progress in Canada. Canada has been called "a world leader in the promotion and protection of women's rights and gender equality," (Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada). Yet a hundred years after universal suffrage, gender disparity continues to exist in Canada. Gender disparity is evident in the political, economic, and social spheres. Political disparity refers to the lack of adequate representation of women in local, provincial, and federal politics, resulting in continued political disenfranchisement and a lack of attention being paid to remedying the situation. Economic disparity refers to unequal pay between men and women in the labor market, economic dependency of women, and differential degrees of wealth and poverty. Social disparity refers to gender bias, sexism, and other sociological factors. Although Canada continues to rank relatively high in terms of most measures of gender parity, the nation can and should do more to ensure political, economic, and social equality.

Three main factors contribute to the feminization of poverty in the United States. Firstly, women are paid less than men at jobs that provide fewer benefits. Women make only 77% of a man’s salary, (Eitzen et al, 2007). This unequal treatment is due to the discrimination against women in the job market. Secondly, women are more likely to work part-time or not work at all in order to take care of their children. The cost of pregnancy and caring for a family is often the responsibility of the mother; these high costs can drive a woman and her family into poverty. Thirdly, victims of domestic violence are more likely to be female. These traumatic experiences can lead to developing a mental illness, which can then lead to losing a job and even becoming homeless. Women need and deserve access to high paying “male-dominated” jobs. “Poverty and low earnings are more common among certain types of workers. Single women head nearly one-half of all working poor families with children” (Iceland 255).

The term “feminization of poverty” was first created in 1978 in an article that analyzed the economic statuses of women. “In 1976, nearly two out of three of poor persons over 16 years of age were women” (Pearce; 1976). The feminization of poverty describes a phenomenon in which women represent a disproportionate percentage of the United States poor. This trend is not only a result of lack of income, but also a lack of opportunities due to gender biases and fixed gender roles in some societies (DeNavas-Walt; 2012). Gender biases often deprive women of opportunities to independently pursue education or careers and are often linked to the expectation that women are responsible for childbearing and caring for them as well. To better

Gender inequality exists in Canadian society and forms part of its social organization. This inequality begins from conception where the behavior and personalities of children are shaped according to their gender. Gender inequality has a huge impact on the Canadian wealth distribution as men and women have different opportunities and face varying barriers to earning incomes and assets. The behavior and personalities that men are taught to have from their birth make them have more abilities and power than women in acquiring wealth. There have been efforts in addressing the gender inequality factor in the Canadian wealth distribution but the inequality persists (Fortin et al., 2012). Gender inequality negatively affects wealth distribution between Canadian men and women, and the best approach to address the gender inequality issue in the Canadian society is to have a different definition of gender inequality. For example, defining gender inequality as a product of various complex social forces.

In a recent study done by OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development), Canada was ranked 7th amongst a total of 34 countries in regards to highest wage gap (Canadian Women’s Foundation, 2014). Again, some progress has been made in reference to female and male wage difference, but there are still some unspoken occurrences of inequality. It is possible to assume that female-dominated jobs aren’t viewed as of equal importance than men-dominated jobs, this is because society still considers the majority of female occupations ‘girly’ and more domesticated (Canadian Women’s Foundation, 2014). Whereas less females are being appointed to jobs of higher pay with more labour work, such as construction, or of importance, like a lawyer. Women between 25-54 made up 22% of Canada’s minimum wage jobs, men within the same age group doubled this statistic (Canadian Women’s Foundation, 2014). This is proof that less women are being hired to jobs they are eligible to

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the working poor rate of families maintained by women was 28.6% in contrast to the 17.2% rate in families maintained by men. This sad statistic could be partially be explained by a ( WHO? write it out)BLS report that revealed that ” In 2013, about 5 percent of women who were paid hourly rates had wages at or below the federal minimum, compared with about 3 percent of men.”.

Income is an essential factor that provides with necessities for daily living as food and housing. As well, it can help in an unexpected situation as the loss of a job or a disease and provides with better health status and higher education (Government of Canada, 2016). However, not all people have enough income to sustain their health due to unhealthy nutrients and poor housing. Therefore, low-income individuals have fewer opportunities and choices than high-income individuals in order to be healthy (Shimmin, 2015). The questions that need to be addressed how income inequalities impact the health of Canadians? This can be examined from two different points of view as materialism and neoliberalism. Coburn (2010) is materialist,

abortions have become more common. In 2003 the abortion ratio was 241 legal abortions per

Objective: to assess the sociodemographic and obstetric profile of puerperal women in advanced maternal age. Method: this is a descriptive research, with quantitative approach and retrospective design. Data collection was held in medical charts of 223 puerperal women through a structured questionnaire, from September 2015 to January 2016. Data were entered and analyzed in SPSS 18.0. Results: among women, 68.6% were aged between 35 and 39, 82.5% were white, 75.7% were married, 35.4% completed high school and 51.1% had paid jobs. Concerning the obstetric profile, 91.9% underwent prenatal care, 59.2% of which had more than six consultations. Among women, 53.4% had cesarean deliveries and 46.6% vaginal deliveries, 19.7% had preterm babies, 75.3%

One certainty regarding Canada’s diverse labour market is that, simply, some jobs are better than others. When comparing what makes one job better than another, various factors such as work hours, wages, benefits, and security are assessed. It makes sense that permanent, full-time, well-compensated, secure positions would be considered “better” than precarious (unreliable and/or unpredictable), part-time, temporary, low-wage, benefits-absent jobs would be. However, to complicate this labour market division further is the overwhelming presence of inequality within the market(s), driven by historical conditions and ongoing market standards which have put and kept women, visible minorities and other groups in a vulnerable position. It is these certain groups that consistently suffer the consequences of labour market insecurity and inequality, and experience structural and social barriers to improving the conditions.

While the time pressures imposed on mothers in Both Hands Tied also have cultural origins, they are not the result of a culture carefully and intentionally crafted company culture—they are the result of widespread social inequities and cultural misreadings. Poor women in America are disproportionally employed in the low wage service sector. Employees in this sector are subject to low wages, unpredictable shifts, a lack of leave and benefits, mandatory overtime, and other harsh working conditions. Unlike the employees at Amerco who work long hours to get ahead, or for social gratification, these workers often work long hours so they can make enough money to feed and care for themselves and their families. In the case of the single