Title: Are women catching up in the earnings race? /
Authors: Scott, Katherine.; Lochhead, Clarence.; Canadian Council on Social Development.
Publisher: Centre for International Statistics at the Canadian Council on Social Development,
Year: 1997
Abstract: This report presents a new way of measuring the progress that women have made in closing the gap between their wages and those of men. Using microdata from the Statistics Canada Survey of Consumer Finances, the authors analyze the changes that have occurred in women's & men's earnings between 1984 & 1994 in relation to the overall distribution of earnings. They further break down the pattern of women's & men's earnings into different age groups within the labour force. The report focusses on those who held employment during the study period and does not consider the larger question of men's & women's total incomes or questions related to unemployment rates. The first section provides a context for the analysis of earnings by examining women's changing position in the labour market. The next section details the methodology used and presents overall findings on the distribution of earnings among all earners and full-time, full-year workers. The last section examines one important factor related to the changes in earnings patterns for women over the decade: the altered age profile of the labour force.