- In Canada, women in the core working ages of 25 to 54 earned an average of $26.92 per hour in 2018, while their male counterparts earned $31.05. In other words, women earned $4.13 (or 13.3%) less per hour, on average, than men, or $0.87 for every dollar earned by men.
- Recent studies indicate that, in general, the gender wage gap has narrowed over time, both in Canada and Nova Scotia. However, given that women in Canada have surpassed men in educational attainment, diversified their fields of study at post-secondary institutions, and increased their representation in higher-status occupations, the persistence of gender-based wage inequality warrants continued attention.
- In Nova Scotia, women comprise over 51 per cent of the population and evidence shows that they are more likely to earn the lowest wages
- In 2017, based on the average employment income of all workers in Nova Scotia, women earned $0.73 for every $1 earned by men.
- Drolet, Marie. 2011. “Why has the gender wage gap narrowed?” Perspectives on Labour and Income.23(1): 3-13. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 75-001-X.
- Moyser, Melissa. 2017. “Women and paid work.” Women in Canada: A Gender-based Statistical Report.Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 89-503-X.
- Moyser, Melissa. 2019. “Measuring and analyzing the gender pay gap: A conceptual and methodological overview.” Studies on Gender and Intersecting Identities. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 45-20-0002.
- Olsen, Wendy, Vanessa Gash, Sook Kim, and Min Zhang. 2018. “The gender pay gap in the UK: evidence from the UKHLS.” London, UK: Department for Education, Government Equalities Office.
- Nova Scotia Government. 2020. Government Addressing Gender Wage Gap. https://novascotia.ca/news/release/?id=20200220005
- Statistics Canada. 2020. “Employee wages by industry, annual.” https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=1410006401