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Coaching clients and employers on looking at the 'whole job'
Editorial by Christian Saint Cyr
National Director / Canadian Job Development Network
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All too often job seekers evaluate one job opportunity against another and fail to look at the ‘whole job’, in terms of potential benefits and perks. While benefits such as flexible scheduling, hybrid employment and job sharing, provide greater flexibility, it’s easy to overlook the whole financial picture.
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When we factor in pensions and other retirement savings options we see that many women do not benefit from the long-term wealth accumulation their male counterparts enjoy.
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According to a new research report, titled ‘Understanding the Gender Pension Gap in Canada’, men have consistently fared better than women during their golden years and the situation hasn’t improved much since 1976. In fact, it’s gotten worse, as measured by the gender pension gap.
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The gender pension gap is the difference in retirement income received by men and women. In Canada, the income is calculated through Old Age Security and the Guaranteed Income Supplement, the Canada Pension Plan or Quebec Pension Plan and private pensions.
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The gender pension gap was 15 per cent in 1976, but despite women’s increased labour force participation, it widened to 17 per cent in 2021, according to Statistics Canada. The average retirement income for Canadian women in that year was $36,700 and the median was $29,700.
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“Women receive $0.83 to every $1 a man receives in retirement income. That is a 17 per cent gendered pension gap,” Kadie Philp, commissioner and chief administrative officer of the Ontario Pay Equity Commission, said in a press release. “This stark reality isn’t just a number — it’s a concerning trend contributing to a notable gender disparity among older Canadians, particularly women.”
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According to the report, approximately 200,000 more women than men over the age of 65 were living below Canada’s low-income threshold in 2020. Twenty-one per cent of women who had incomes below the cut-off were above the age of 75 — 51 per cent higher than the portion of their male counterparts of the same age.
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The report points to a number of factors causing the gender pension gap, including childbearing and child-rearing. The data showed that the employment rate for women increases with the age of their children but never catches up to that of men. In 2015, there was a 21.3 per cent gap between the employment rate of women (69.5 per cent) versus men (90.8 per cent) with children under the age of six.
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Women are also more likely to work part-time due to caregiving responsibilities. Nearly a quarter (24.4 per cent) of all Canadian female workers in 2021 were part-time compared to 13 per cent of all male workers. The reason women cited most often for working part-time was caring for children (25 per cent) compared to only 3.3 per cent of men.
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Unpaid domestic labour was another contributor. A majority of insured mothers in Canada (89.9 per cent) took maternity or parental leave at a reduced income level compared with 11.9 per cent of insured fathers or partners.
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Canada’s existing gender wage gap, which was 28 per cent for average annual earnings and 11 per cent for average hourly earnings in 2021, also plays a role in the gender pension gap.
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The final factor is historical bias. The report said that Canada’s public pension system was and still is designed for heterosexual couples with a male counterpart.
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“Gendered differences in income, whether while working or in retirement, have multiple and interrelated causes,” Philp said in the release. “This report … highlights the need for additional research on the impacts of the gender wage gap on women in all stages of their lives.”
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In working with employers, it might simply be helpful to be aware of this financial imbalance and help them increase financial subsidies in areas such as pension or retirement savings plan contributions which might appeal to female employees.
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From a student or client perspective, they may not understand the cumulative impact of not making retirement contributions during workplace absences; lower contributions due to part-time employment; or lower investments due to earning less money then their male counterparts.
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We’ll be discussing the long-term impact of smaller retirement contributions at our #MotivatingMondays meeting of the Canadian Job Development Network, Monday June 10th at 8:30am Pacific; 9:30am Mountain; 10:30am Central; 11:30am Eastern; 12:30pm Atlantic and at 1pm in Newfoundland. Visit: www.MotivatingMondays.ca on Monday to join the session LIVE.
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