Women In The Labour Force   December 17, 1992

        The past decades their has been a dramatic increase of women
participating in the labour force from countries all over the
world including Canada.  In 1950, one Canadian worker in five was
a woman.  By 1980 this percentage had doubled, and women are
expected to make up more than 44 percent of the labour force by
the end of this century.
        The increase in female participation started occurring
during the 1970's.  This increase also caused the largest baby
boom that the Canadian female labour force had ever witnessed. 
        In North America it is common for women to have part-time or
summer jobs, and the participation rate of teenage girls is high. 
It is also mostly high throughout the world in places as United
Kingdom because of the fewer women going to school.  But in
places like France, Italy, and Japan the female participation
rate is very low.  In most of the countries the labour force is
most participated in the age groups between 20 and 24.  The
labour force of mature women is very high in Sweden, because of
the encouraged day care facilities which also provides the
females with legislation that provides them with excellent
benefits.  In Japan there is a drop in female economic activity,
the reason why is it affects their marriage and the care of their
only child.
        An observation of labour force participation rates in Canada
show that female rates rose a lot between 1971 and 1981, while
the male rate rose unnoticeably.   The increase in the female
participation rate was found in all age groups except in older
women.  For women aged 15 to 19 the rate was as almost as high as
the men.  But the largest increase was in the age group of 25-44
years old, where the rate rose almost 50 percent.  This meant
that the participation rates of the females had become more alike
with the men.
        Family status also influenced the female participation rate
but later on during 1981 it had a more less affect than in 1971.
According to statistics just over one quarter of married women
with young children were working, but this later changed and grew
by 76 percent over the a 10 year period of time.  The rate also
showed an increase of 47 percent for widowed, divorced, and 
separated women with children.  However single women with young
children showed a slight decrease.  However the female
participation rate is not so much related to family status as
today as it was many years ago.
        During the period of 1971 through 1981 the involvement of
married women went through a major change.  Fewer women saw
marriage as a reason to interrupt their participation in the job
force, and couple tended to postpone having children or not
having any at all.  While women with young children tended to
participate less in the labour market and quit their jobs more
frequently than men.  Females did the exact opposite of what men
did when they had children while working, and in some cases were
actually more stable than men  without children.  This showed
that the couples attitude towards having children influenced a
decrease in the female labour force participation rate.
        In 1981 most women spent an average of 1,247 hours a year
working, compared with 1,431 hours in 1971 which had dropped
about 15 percent.  Even men saw their average hours decrease by
13 percent.  Not only more women were working, more were working
part-tim for only part of the year which meant more women on the
unemployment rolls.  In the 1960's the unemployment rate for
females was 3 percent and ten years later increased to 7 percent.
Since june 1982 the unemployment rate for men was 11-13 percent
and the women's just above that rate which could also exceed that
of the men near the end of the century.  Only about 11 percent of
women had part-time jobs because they couldn't find full-time
employment or because they wished to spend more time to their
education or their families, or for other reasons.  Although 24
percent of the women working part-time would have preferred a
full-time job if it had been available.
        According to the Statistics Canada study, in 1970 women were
extremely poorly paid which showed a big earnings difference than
the men.  This started changing in the 1970's  which rose the
females earning to 51.2 percent of that of a man.  Ten years
later it had reached 54.4 percent.  If it wasn't for the decrease
in annual hours for the females the earnings difference would
have been reduced even further.  By 1980 the females earnings had
risen to 72 percent of that of a man.
        The female labour force would be incomplete without equal
pay for equal or equivalent work.  This issue was the most
important issue to women in low-paid jobs.  If the principal of
equal pay for equal work were fully applied men and women would
both receive the same hourly wage which would raise female
earnings dramatically.  The issue of equal pay for equal work
most often comes up in discussion to improve the economic status
of the women at the bottom of the payroll, many of them who are
not in unions.
        When women first started entering the labour force they were
hassled by the males because they were supposed to traditional
work in the house and take care of the family.  Which was the
reason of their low wages to disapprove of women working.  This
traditions reflected their wages and the positions people were
willing to offer to women.  Working women experience problems
such as sexual harassment and being fired because of pregnancy.
        Most of the people want to correct the unequal treatment of
women in the work force and make it equal for everyone.  Some of
the methods which can be used to support equality is to introduce
a federal legislation to guarantee equal pay for equal work.  To
also set wages according to the value of the work done by the
employer.  Which would be difficult to measure the value of one
person's work compared to another persons.  We could also offer
women better benefits and a better pension when they retire their
job.  
        Peoples attitudes towards women in the work force are slowly
starting to change and more opportunities for women are being
available for them.  The unequal treatment of working women will
take years to change and will always stay an important issue.


Books                                               Author
In Her Own Right                                Six Point View
To See Ourselves                                   "unknown"
The Law Is Not For Women                           "unknown"
Equal Status For Women In Canada In th 1990's       "unknown"
Women And The Constitution                      Micheline Carrier
Women At Home                                      "unknown"
Changing Economic Status Of Women               Jac-Andre Boulet