Gender wage gap is shrinking but not that fast

The gender wage gap has improved but there is still a long way to go to achieve income equality according to a new study.

Statistics Canada looked at wages between 1998 and 2018 and found that women earned 87 cents for every dollar earned by men in 2018, making a wage gap of 13.3%.

Men earned an average of $31.05 per hour across all professions while women earned $26.92.

In 1998, the gap was 18.8% showing that the gender wage gap has improved by just 5.5 percentage points in 20 years.

The study included around 56,000 households and focused on core working ages (25-54 years) for both part time and full time roles.

Margaret Yap, associate professor in Human Resource Management, told CBC News that she expects the gender pay gap to remain at least during her lifetime.

"It's something that is very persistent and I don't think it's going away any time soon," she said, noting that it will endure unless governments and employers do more to address it.

And she highlighted that it is not simply about paying women the same wage for the same work; the opportunities for women to rise up the career ladder are also often weaker than for male counterparts.

"One of the biggest reasons why there is still a gender wage gap is, when women work, they are most likely unable to move to higher level positions," Yap told CBC News.

A new Statistics Canada study reports women earned an average of 13.3 per cent less per hour than their male counterparts in 2018. https://t.co/IDLnRwxV40

— CBC News (@CBCNews) October 7, 2019