The salary gap between men and women is such in Quebec that for the thirty-three days remaining in 2024, women become volunteers. While the men are always paid. Yes, there is still a way to go.
November 29 marks the end of paid work for Quebec women. This figure is calculated by Anne Plourde, researcher at the Institute for Socioeconomic Research and Information (IRIS). It is based on current average hourly income: women earn $30.86/hour compared to $33.84/hour for men, a gap of 9%.
And if we compare the average total annual income, then the gap is even greater: women earn 78% of men’s salary ($48,000 vs. $61,500).
Can we rejoice that things are slowly moving forward? After all, last year the gap for hourly income was 10% and five years ago it was 12%. So we’re moving forward!
Yes, but no, the researcher whispers to me on the other end of the line.
“It will take a few decades before we achieve equality,” says Anne Plourde.
I ask him to clarify his thoughts; She tells me that she hasn’t done the exact calculation, but she estimates that it will take “at least twenty-five years.”
Unionized environments
I try to stay positive. I ask him if, in certain sectors, women have an advantage in terms of salary.
A hesitation on the line. Silence.
“The gap is persistent regardless of age, education level, company size and industry,” she says.
Good. But there must be an area, let’s say two, where women are “advantaged” financially, where the prospects are better?
Bingo! In health care and social services, women earn 99% of men’s salaries. Equality (or almost).
In unionized environments, the trend is also towards pay equity: in public services, for example, where the rate of unionization is high, women earn almost the same as men.
Finally, in the field of transportation and warehousing, women earn a little more money than men. How to explain it? One hypothesis: women are underrepresented in this industry, but when they are there, they occupy management or administrative positions.
Immigrant women
In some types of jobs, things are worse: in construction, manufacturing and trade, women earn 86% of men’s wages. And it gets worse. In professional, scientific and technical services, it’s 78%.
I am speechless.
And I lose them even more when I learn that some women work for free earlier than others. Immigrant women begin their period of free work three weeks before all women in Quebec, that is, on November 9.
Talking about it to change mentalities, raise awareness, prevent, it’s good. But it is insufficient, underlines Anne Plourde.
“If we compare Quebec with the rest of Canada, or with France, the salary gaps are smaller,” she says. We have put in place good, forward-thinking policies to strive for equality. »
She refers to the network of early childhood centers (CPE), the Quebec Parental Insurance Plan (RQAP) and the high unionization rates in several environments.
Women penalized
But all this is fragile. Let’s just take the childcare model. Places are insufficient, access is limited. We lack money, resources, personnel.
When the social safety net crumbles, it is women who pay the price. Again and again.
“It takes developed, universal and free social policies, whether in health, education and care for the elderly,” says the expert. When all this is taken care of socially, women are freed from these tasks and mental burden. »
And then what? And then, they can go into the job market.
Improve work-family balance measures. Improve the RQAP. Invest in the CPE network. Help women reach positions on boards of directors, middle and senior managers (they only occupy 35% of manager positions in Quebec). Here are some good ideas for achieving equality and equity.
Girls’ jobs
But what else?
Addressing the gendered division of labor. This is the crux of the matter.
Women typically work in socially devalued jobs. They are less recognized, less paying, they come with worse conditions. Conversely, men are over-represented in valued, paying jobs that come with good conditions.
The rise of the right (here, in the United States and in Europe) and the masculinist trend wanting women to “return to the cauldrons” do not bode well.
“There is still work to do,” says Anne Plourde.
As Simone de Beauvoir said, women must remain vigilant, because “all it takes is a political, economic and religious crisis for women’s rights, our rights, to be called into question.”
