Statistics Canada has released updated data on measures of work — from maternity leave trends to night hours worked — to provide a glimpse into the Canadian workforce and the disparities within it.
Decades-long trends show more women working, taking up maternity leave and closing the gender pay gap.
The rate of working mothers aged 20 to 49, with at least one child under age three, grew from 33.5 per cent in 1976 to 77.1 per cent in 2022.
As more moms started working, better maternity and paternity benefits were introduced: Fifteen weeks of employment insurance (EI) for women with children (maternity leave) was introduced in 1971 followed by an additional 10 weeks of parental leave in 1990 (that a father could use). Parental leave benefits were extended to 35 weeks in 2000.
In 1997, 41.5 per cent of women with a child under age one took the benefit and by 2022 the rate hit 78 per cent. B.C. had the lowest maternity leave participation, at just 68.5 per cent.
From 2012 to 2017, seven in 10 fathers took leave of some type after the birth or adoption of their child. Over the same period, nine in 10 mothers took leave for their child.
Between 1998 and 2021 the gender pay gap decreased from 18.8 per cent to 11.1 per cent. The average hourly wages of women increased 28.6 per cent, while men’s increased 17.4 per cent, in this time.
“In 1998, the median hourly wage of employees was $22.16 and the low pay threshold was $14.77....
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