New Brunswick issues new and different report on women's equality.
by Jody Dallaire
A new report from the Women’s Issues Branch in the New Brunswick government’s Executive Council Office released an “Equality Profile of Women in New Brunswick” shows women’s gains and losses in this province. Here are a few snippets of information from the report.
Women are more highly educated now than ever — actually, so are men. In 2006, 45 percent of NB women (44 percent of NB men) had completed some post-secondary education, a sharp increase from the 1986 figures of 26 percent of NB women and 29 percent of NB men.
Women’s labour force attachment continues to grow. In 2011, New Brunswick’s workforce was 50 percent female and 50 percent male. Having a job, though, is no guarantee of economic security.
Many women live in poverty, even if they work for pay. Almost half — 47 percent — of NB women earn less than $20,000 per year (with 20 percent of women earning less than $10,000 per year.) By contrast, 30 percent of NB men earn less than $20,000 (13 percent earn less than $10,000.)
The data also reveal that 37 percent of female lone parent families lived in poverty in 2009. Of all the people living in poverty in 2009, 57 percent of them were female.
I missed some of the information that the now-defunct New Brunswick Advisory Council on the Status of Women used to make available in its biennial reports.
On a more positive note, the poverty rate for senior women has declined dramatically over the past 30 years. Only 2.0 percent of NB senior women lived in poverty in 2009, compared to 19 percent (one in five) in 1980. But the gender wage gap follows women into their senior years. In 2009, senior women have only two-thirds (65 percent) of the income of senior men.
Some data from the report are quite interesting and illuminating. School dropout rates are decreasing in New Brunswick, in most categories. For example, in 2009-2010 the rates were 1.8 percent of girls and 2.2 percent of boys dropped out of school in NB, about half of the 1998-99 rate of 2.4 percent for girls and 4.0 percent for boys.
However, when you break down the data even further, the dropout rates are on the rise for Aboriginal children; 6.6 percent of Aboriginal girls (6.1 percent of Aboriginal boys) dropped out of school in 2009-2010 as compared to 4.4 percent and 4.5percent in 1998-1999.
The reasons given for dropping out of school were different for boys and girls. 33 percent of boys said that they left school to work as compared to 15 percent of girls while 29 percent of girls said they left school because they had one or more children as compared to only 6.0 percent of boys.
The report also highlights the division of unpaid labour between women and men in the household. Although women now make up 50 percent of the paid workforce, this doesn’t translate into a dramatic change in the division of household chores at home. In 2006, 48 percent of women spent 15 hours per week or more on housework as compared to 28 percent of men. These data have changed little since 1996.
New Brunswickers may recall that the now-defunct New Brunswick Advisory Council on the Status of Women used to release a similar (but independent) report every two years, in time for International Women’s Day, under the title, Status Report on Women in New Brunswick.
Without good data, we are not able to see how the status of women is progressing and what still requires work. While women may appreciate the government’s decision to continue the report — although it deep-sixed the very active and vocal Council — I did have to wonder (as I read the report) if it had lost some of its independence.
I missed some of the information that the Council previously made available. For example, the report no longer includes information on how much money the New Brunswick government invests in child care programs and how this investment compares to other provinces and to other countries.
Another example: although the report highlights abortion rates in New Brunswick, it no longer includes information on women’s right to abortion services. Why is this information no longer included? Is it because this data would make the government of New Brunswick look bad?
I would have also liked to know if some data are still missing. The Council’s 2010 report included a section about missing data, called: Questions we wish we could answer.
Although the release of this report is a positive step, collecting and publishing data is not enough. Making information public will not change the status of women in New Brunswick in of itself. Government also needs to evaluate its policies and laws to make sure that they do not worsen the status of New Brunswick women. For example, it needs to evaluate how its budgetary and policy decisions will impact women and men given their different realities. This is called gender based analysis.
The data released in this report can also be used to target certain investments and policies. For example, given that girls and boys list different reasons for dropping out of school, the Ministry of Education should develop different programs for boys and girls. Since Aboriginal boys and girls dropout rates are on the rise, investing in retention programs for them could be a good investment.
While essential, good and reliable data merely paint a picture of reality. To bridge the remaining discrimination and gender gaps, we also need good policies and laws that are developed by taking the differences between men and women into account.
About Jody Dallaire
Jody Dallaire lives and works in Dieppe New Brunswick where she writes a weekly column on women's equality issues and matters of social justice.
Email: jody.dallaire@rogers.com.
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