Pausing on the Journey to Economic Equality

The achievement of economic equality remains a prime concern for today's women, with good reason.

In Nova Scotia, women who work full time earn just 72 cents for every dollar earned by men.

About 60 per cent of women work in the retail and service sector. This often entails precarious employment with few or no benefits. Occupations in science, trade and technology offer higher wages, greater security and better benefits. Getting more women into those occupations is a key to improving their economic security.

"Women are starting to look at these fields and employers are starting to recognize women's abilities and contributions," said Carolyn Bolivar-Getson, Minister responsible for the Nova Scotia Advisory Council on the Status of Women. "It's still fairly new and we have to keep working at bringing the two together. As we head toward International Women's Day (March 8), it's a good time to reflect on the work we're already doing and recognize there is still work to be done."

Encouraging girls and women to enter well-paying occupations is critical. Only five per cent of apprentices in Nova Scotia are women, with most of those apprenticing in cooking. Employers in construction, trucking and the plastics and petroleum industries are beginning to recognize that there is an untapped pool of workers: women.

The advisory council intends to work with industry and business, with community organizations, with the education sector, with federal and provincial governments to make sure that women find their way to well-paid work.

One initiative is Techsploration, which exposes Grade 9 girls to trades and technology occupations through major support from the Department of Education and private sector sponsors across Nova Scotia. The advisory council will also join with community and government partners to lead women to apprenticeable trades and technological careers.

"It's also important that women and women's organizations recoup some of the losses endured in the 1990s," said Doreen Paris, chair of the advisory council. "Women need once more to be considered a designated group for purposes of employment equity. Federal training initiatives must be available to more women than just those who are eligible for employment insurance. Finally, we also need to make sure that paid maternity, parental and compassionate care leaves are more widely available, for example to women entrepreneurs."

As International Women's Day approaches, women are meeting around the globe to mark accomplishments and to remind themselves of progress yet to be made.

For example, in New York, the 49th session of the Commission on the Status of Women is meeting to review progress made on women's issues since the Beijing Declaration was signed 10 years ago. The declaration is a plan for action on women's equality.

The Advisory Council on the Status of Women champions equality, fairness and dignity for all women, every day of the year. International Women's Day is an opportunity to celebrate the achievements of women, to pause on the journey toward equality, to recommit to the next steps.