Canadian Statistics on Women in the Workforce

Year / % of women in paid workforce
1952 / 24% (Kramarae & Spender)
1961 / 30% (HRDSC, 2006) – especially married women
Late 1960s / 40% (HRSDC, 2006) – female participation rate
1971 / 37% (Kramarae & Spender)
1976 / 42%(Almey, 2007)
Mid 1980s / 45% (Anderson), 55.4% in 1986 (Hughes, 1990)
2006 / 58% of all women 15+ worked (Almey, 2007)
Year / % of women with jobs working in 4 traditionally female occupations (teaching, nursing and other health-related jobs, clerical/admin positions, sales and service)
1987 / 72% (Almey, 2007)
2006 / 67% (Almey, 2007)
1951 / 63% of education sector workforce was women (Cook, et al., 331)
1971 / 55% of education sector workforce was women (Cook, et al., 331)
Year / % of man’s income earned by women
1911 / 52.8%(Connelly, 2010)
1961 / 59% (Anderson)
1971 / 58% (Connelly, 2010)
Mid 1980s / 72% (Anderson)
1996 / 66% (Connelly, 2010)
2010 / 74.5% based on median weekly earnings (Catalyst, 2011)
2009 / Women 25-29 working full time earned 85% of similar men’s income; women 50-54 earned 72% of similar men’s income (Conference Board of Canada, 2011)

Royal Commission on the Status of Women, appointed 1967, reported 1970.

“1)women should be free to choose whether or not to take employment outside their homes

2) the care of children is a responsibility to be shared by the mother, father, and society

3) society has a responsibility for women because of pregnancy and childbirth

4) in certain areas women will, for an interim period, require special treatment to overcome the adverse effects of discriminatory practices” (Applied History Research Group, 1997).”

Works Cited

Almey, M. (2007, April 20). Statistics Canada. Women in Canada. Work chapter

updates. Retrieved April 15, 2010 from

Anderson, D. ( n.d.). Status of women: 1945 to the present. The Canadian

Encyclopedia. Retrieved April 20, 2010 from

RTA0007673

Applied History Research Group – University of Calgary. (1997). Calgary and Southern

Alberta: time of change, 1960s to the present: Royal Commission on the Status

of Women. Retrieved April 20, 2010 from

Catalyst. (2011, April). Women’s earnings and income. Retrieved Dec. 13, 2011 from

Conference Board of Canada. (2011). Society: gender income gap. Retrieved Dec. 13,

2011 from gap.aspx#_ftn2

Connelly, M.P. (2010). Women in the labour force. The Canadian Encyclopedia.

Retrieved April 15, 2010 from

RTA0008680

Cook, S. A., McLean, L.R., & O’Rourke, K. (2001). Framing Our Past. Canadian

Women’s History in the 20th Century. Canada: McGill-Queen’s University Press.

Retrieved Dec. 13, 2011 from Google Books.

Hughes, K. (1990, Summer). Trading places: Men and women in non-traditional

occupations, 1971-86. Perspectives on Labour and Income. Retrieved April 20,

2010 from eng.pdf

Human Resources and Skills Development Canada. (2006, Nov. 28). Overview of

evolution of the Canadian labour market from 1940 to the present – November

2000. Section 3: The 1970s. Retrieved April 19, 2010 from

International Labour Organization. (1997, Dec. 11). Women’s progress in workforce

improving worldwide, but occupational segregation still rife. Retrieved April 19,

2010 from

releases/lang--en/WCMS_008040/index.htm

Kramarae, C. and Spender, D. (n.d.). Routledge International Encyclopedia of Women.

New York: Routledge. Retrieved April 15, 2010 from Google Books.