Men earn around a quarter more than women says ADP Canada
The gender pay gap remains a challenge to women’s wealth in Canada according to a new report.
It shows that women earn 24% less on average than men based on pre-tax salary. Women earn $51,352 compared to $67,704 for men. The stats were self-reported in a new Leger Research survey for ADP Canada in the third quarter of 2019.
The picture is worse when other compensation such as bonuses and profit sharing are examined. Women were paid an average $3,250 with men receiving more than double at $7,646.
Worse still, while men saw their additional compensation increase 25% year-over-year while there was a 17% decrease for women.
"A substantial compensation gap persists between men and women in Canada – a gap that doesn't entail salary alone," says Natalka Haras, legal counsel at ADP Canada. "The workforce of tomorrow is aware today, to look for gender biases in companies' practices and policies. For organizations to succeed in attracting and retaining the very best of workers, they will need to be transparent and take the proactive steps required to achieve pay equity and equality.”
Employers are addressing the issue
Despite the large gender pay gap, most respondents believe their organization is addressing the issue.
More than two thirds said that pay equality is a priority for their firm’s management and 67% of women said their organization is walking the talk (along with 79% of men).
More than half of men and 4 in 10 women believe that gender pay equality will be achieved during their career.
Millennials are most likely to switch employers if they were to find out pay equity is not being achieved (49%). This is a strong sign that the workforce of tomorrow strongly supports equal compensation in their workplace.
Last year, a survey revealed that women freelancers earn less than men despite working harder.
Image credit: ADP Canada
Parental leave
The ADP Canada study also confirms that women are more likely than men to take parental leave (42% vs 16%) and overall, Quebecers are more likely than the rest of Canada to do so (41.6% vs 24%).
Of those who took parental leave, 31% felt it restricted their career growth. This was most significant in Alberta (52%) while those in Manitoba and Saskatchewan were least likely to say this (22%).
