Advocacy

Women’s Economic Security

In Canada, women experience higher rates of poverty than men and have yet to achieve equal pay for work of equal value. Canadian women working full-time, year-round earn 70.5% of what men earn. Women account for seven out of ten part-time employees and two-thirds of Canadians working for minimum wage. As a result, women are disproportionately low-income, concentrated in precarious employment and particularly vulnerable in any economic crisis.

To address women’s economic security and equality, YWCA Canada advocates for adoption of a comprehensive national poverty strategy, a national housing strategy with a gender component, and legislation implementing pay equity as a human right, among other measures. More information on policies to enhance women’s economic security is available in our 2009 position paper Broad Investments: Counting Women in to the Federal Budget and in YWCA Canada Report on the Status of Women and Girls in Canada.

Single Mothers

With the highest levels of working mothers in our history, 36% of mother-led families have incomes below the poverty line. The median income for single mothers is more than a third lower than for single fathers. We support continued increases to the minimum wage, and investments in gender-specific employment training.

Discrimination and Equity

Barriers of discrimination increase the risk of living in poverty for women and their families. More than a third of Aboriginal women live below the poverty line, as do 29% of women of colour, 23% of immigrant women, and one in four women with disabilities. Addressing discrimination is key to enhancing women’s economic security.

Homelessness

Women face a severe housing shortage in northern Canada and across the country the number of homeless women continues to rise. Life on the streets of our cities exacts a brutal toll, with extremely high risk of sexual assault and racialized, sexualized violence claiming the lives of many. Women living on the street are often survivors of abuse with mental health and addiction issues. A housing strategy that reflects the realities of women’s lives can bring an end to women’s homelessness.

Anti-poverty

YWCA Canada works to end poverty as a member of the Campaign 2000 coalition and the Ad Hoc Coalition for Women’s Equality.