Brock labour expert releases first-ever report on gender wage gap in Ontario retail

Brock University has released a report, the first, on gender wage gap in Ontario retail stores.

According to the reports, men are being paid more than women in every occupational category within Ontario’s retail sector.

This despite the fact that most of Ontario’s one million retail workers are women.

Among the findings of the report, “The Gender Wage Gap in Ontario’s Retail Sector: Devaluing Women’s Work and Women Workers.” The “gender wage gap” is the difference between what women and men are paid.

“I’ve studied retail work for six years, but the seriousness of the pay inequities in Ontario still surprised and angered me,” says Brock University labour expert Kendra Coulter, the report’s lead author.

Coulter teamed up with Angella MacEwen, an economist at the Canadian Labour Congress, and Sheetal Rawal, a lawyer with expertise in pay equity issues, to produce the April 18 report.

The report consists of statistical analysis, the results of an online survey of retail workers, and comparative legal and policy research.

Findings include:
– Men are paid more than women across every occupational category in front-line retail – often a lot more.
– Of the few full-time positions that do exist, most are given to men.
– Of the retail workers who are paid $12 or less per hour, 65 per cent are women.
– 48 per cent of online survey respondents feel there are inequalities in workplace promotions, with many attributing favouritism and a “boys’ club” mentality as the cause.

“This is not about a few bad apples: there is a widespread devaluing of women workers across the sector,” says Coulter, associate professor in Brock’s Centre for Labour Studies.

To see the full report: Click on The Brock News.