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March 12, 2001

WOMEN STILL WORK MORE THAN MEN

OTTAWA --The gap between Canadian men and women is narrowing in the areas of income, work and learning. This portrait is revealed with today's release of the Economic Gender Equality Indicators 2000, which measure human well-being or quality of life.

"A surprising disparity highlighted in this update of the Economic Gender Equality Indicators is the difference in total workload of young women and men," said Dr. Fry. "Women aged 15-24, when compared to their male counterparts, work 18% more. While the share of paid work done by young women is high, their share of unpaid work is even higher."

Highlights of the Indicators:

Income imbalances between women and men are declining, but women's after-tax income is only 63% of men's.

Women still do more work than men - an additional 15 minutes a day or the equivalent of more than two additional weeks per year.

Many fields of education are becoming more gender balanced. Women are making slow, steady progress into fields that have been heavily male-dominated. Yet women are also increasing their share in female-dominated fields and men are staying away from these areas.

Women's share of job-related training is increasing, especially in training sponsored by employers.

Both male and female university graduates are now less likely than earlier to be in high level jobs.

"Overall, the Economic Gender Equality Indicators show that Canada is moving towards a better gender balance," the Honourable Hedy Fry, Secretary of State (Multiculturalism) (Status of Women) said. "However, despite the gains, there is still work to be done. There remain areas of concern and we must be mindful these gains are not necessarily benefiting all women."