Test 3 Study Notes
SOC 227—WORK & OCCUPATIONS Session #7 - 28 Feb, 2013
Female Labour Force Participation
Female Occupational Concentration
Measuring Female Occupational Concentration
Occupational Sex Segregation
Work and Family
Conference Board of Canada: Report Card for Canada- quality of life in comparison to other countries- place 7th with a B
Despite solid performance their exists high rates of poverty and a large gap in income between the rich and everyone else and
puts stress on society and the economy leads to weakness in workforce/labour force attachment and social cohesion
Although we have a high level of income compared to other countries, it surpasses other countries in intergenerational
mobility and incomes (better off than parents) ranks 5th in this measure.
Money ppl make from paid work contributes to this income.
Reading Notes: Work and Gender- Chapter 4
6 different sections:
1) Historical context p. 170
- P.173 study by Joy Parr- 2 Ontario towns- particularly interesting not necessary
- Check section on family wages p.172-174 *reasons for paying men more than women for identical work
2) Female labour force participation Rate- p. 174
The Big story – Fig 4.1 p. 174
- Of 9 countries Canada has more women in the Labour Force (LF) and Biggest increase of women in LF between
- Sweden is often mentioned as most progress country when it comes to women- but this table doesn’t support this
argument for the increases in LFP for the same period.
- what is different from Sweden and Canada and why are they looking different in Canada?- 4 Reasons. Look for 4
reasons for the dramatic increase of women in the work force
3) Family p.179 Current attention paid to women working and family- Is it responsible for women in upper mngt jobs to be
leaving the labour force? Conflict between work and family- responsible for them leaving their jobs/ quitting? As
companies put in policies to make things easier for those with kids, the singles between to complain because they are
not getting the benefits of these things
4) Gender segregation and occupations: occupational concentration - why is it different. Draw the distinction
Test 3 Study Notes
5) Wage gap p. 199. Women earn less than men and paid less doing comparable work. How much they make in a year-
males with females. Annual earnings compare avg annual earnings of males with females. * There is a difference
between hourly earnings and annual income- wage gap. Hourly gap is different between what men and women make
in an hour- substantial even though similar kind of work.
6) Theories of gender inequalities p. 204- why do they exist?
- Brings in the human capital theory, labour market segmentation theory, gender role socialization- explains what
we saw in Chap 3: also looks at role of gender role socialization (how we raise our children and their
Chapter ends with policy initiatives 2 Important initiatives to remedy problems women face: What Canada has done:
1. pay equity- getting a fair and equal wage, and
2. employment equity- getting into the jobs you want. Opportunities for women to get jobs they want: however, look at
what women want (most don’t want manufacturing jobs)
o A balance
Question of the Week:
p. 178 MOTHERS WITH PRE-SCHOOL CHILDREN HAVE ABOVE AVERAGE LABOUR PARTICIPATION RATES WHY IS
THAT?: the younger the child the more the mother would want to be with their child? No?
Answer: Age effects and cohort effects. Age is related to your stage in the lifecycle or life stage. . Cohort: It includes your
generation you grew up in- and feelings about the world and work. It is the group with which you grew up in: baby boomers,
kids you went to school with, generation X and Y is a cohort. Cohort doesn’t change as you get older. It includes both
education and various attitudes that you bring or have about work or the world.
What you find is what you ask: what are you wanting to compare- what are the 2 groups. Women vs kids under 15- compare
with all women
(as the text does). We get higher workforce participation for these women with young kids. - The cohort effect- these women’s
attitudes include having a working career, more education, more human capital and resources to get jobs that could be a part of
a carreer… women with pre-school kids is their cohort effect. Comparing groups of women, to all women you’ll find that. But if
you were to compare them with women of the same age who don’t have kids then it will be different- they’d have a lower LFP
because of their kids ie those with kids will likely pull out of the work force to take care of the kids.
This is a life age effect and a cohort effect
FEMALE LABOUR FORCE PARTICIPATION
Issue is this: does labour market treat women and men equally. If not, then why?
Participation rate =
Number working or looking for work
Total population aged 15 +
Look at Figure 2.3 p. 53 Ch. 2. You will see 2 things:
1. The Participation Rate for women has risen dramatically in the past 100 yrs. By 2008 it was just under 63%... huge
2. Women also show a dramatic difference compared to men PR: rate for men has fallen while rate for women has risen.
The overall trend recently, from 2008 on..
1. Both the male and female rates has fallen: fewer ppl employed so participation rates go down
2. Male rate has declined more than the female rate. Female slightly (steeper) sloped downwards for men while females
slope is now as big in difference. Shrinking difference. Decreasing
Test 3 Study Notes
Male and Female Participation Rates: Canada
1. The recession since 2008 has lowered both rates
2. But the difference between men and women has begin to decrease
Causes for differences
Six reasons for increase in female participation:
1. Job market expands. More jobs are available especially in the service sector: Women finding jobs that are more fit for
them- service sector jobs- reg hours, clean indoor office jobs, appealing to women
2. More education. More women are qualified to work…Human Capital
3. Cultural changes. Stereotypes are changing; beliefs about women working are changing. Feminism. A big cultural
change in beliefs and values; it’s okay for women to work and have a career.
4. Smaller family sizes. Another cultural change (cx)- the decline and cx in the traditional family. No longer having 5-6
children but now having 1 or 2. Child rearing doesn’t take as long because you have less children- having 5 or 6 this is
prolonged and you have to be at home more. Smaller family size more opportunities to move and work outside of the
5. More separation and divorce couples. More likely to seek work if single. Have to support themselves. Need the
6. Advertising. We live in a commercial world. Consumer pressures as a result of all the advertising which in turn
creates demand. Demand for vacations, more cars, luxury goods, clothing, bigger homes, etc. Society creates