Report Highlights Women's Economic Inequality Double Workload
STATUS OF WOMEN -Report Highlights Women's Economic Inequality Double Workload
Nova Scotia women are still striving for economic equality and a better balance of responsibilities at work and at home, according to a statistical report released today, June 14. Women's Paid and Unpaid Work is the fifth report in a series from the Advisory Council on the Status of Women.
"Women are making progress, but there is still room for improvement," said Carolyn Bolivar-Getson, Status of Women Minister. "As a society, we still haven't found a balance between the needs of working parents, who are raising our future citizens, and the needs of employers."
"By and large, women still do the bulk of unpaid caregiving, often on top of paid work outside the home," said Doreen Paris, advisory council chair. "These statistics show that. They support council's ongoing work to help low-income women achieve well- paying work."
The picture for women in this province is mixed.
Well-educated women in the professions have made great strides. However, two out of three women in Nova Scotia work in the retail and clerical sector, where incomes are modest, and where steady, full-time work is hard to come by. Women of African descent, aboriginal women and women with disabilities remain at significant disadvantage in the paid workforce. For immigrant women, whose education is, on average, higher than that of Canadian-born women, unemployment is also a huge problem.
The combination of work in the home and in the paid workforce emphasizes the need for adequate child care, family and caregiver supports and adequate social security, both for parental leave and eventual retirement.
The Advisory Council on the Status of Women researches many issues to help governments and the public to better understand what affects women in Nova Scotia. This report was shared with researchers and members of women's equality-seeking organizations and is available on the council's website, at www.gov.ns.ca/staw.