Thank you. I appreciate the invitation to be here today.
Our understanding is that this is the start of a study, so we are just looking at broad trends in a high-level overview. I'll be focusing on low-income trends, and Barbara Glover will be focusing on the labour market situation.
The economic security of both men and women is highly dependent on the economic environment. As you all know, the economic context in Canada has been extremely positive. Many women in Canada have been able to seize upon new labour market opportunities and have experienced consequent gains in their income and assets, and the rate of low income among Canadian women has decreased.
Despite this success, segments of the female population continue to experience higher levels of low income than their male counterparts. This is a reflection of both circumstances and decisions.
As mentioned at a previous hearing, poverty rates among seniors--both men and women, singles and couples--have declined significantly over the past 25 years. Despite this impressive progress, senior women have higher rates of low income than their male counterparts. Overall, women comprised 72% of all low-income seniors in in 2004. Why is this the case? Older women were less likely than the young women of today to engage in substantial paid work outside the home. As a result, these women had lower levels of contribution to the CPP and to workplace pension plans.
For younger generations of women, retirement should be quite different. ln fact, their retirement income should be more similar to their male counterparts than to the senior women of today, given their high rate of labour force participation and higher contributions to CPP and workplace pensions.
Despite this positive outlook in retirement, significant challenges remain for these younger women. As in every generation, it is young women who have children and who are often the main caregivers. There are challenges for young parents, and particularly for young mothers, to juggle the demands of a career and family-related responsibilities. Reduced attachment to the labour market, costs of day care, and other child-related expenses can compete with other critical financial needs, including saving for retirement. Beyond the care of young children, many Canadians also provide care to an elderly relative. About one million Canadian seniors receive formal and informal care for long-term physical needs. This care is usually provided by women. These caregiving challenges are most acute for women with little or no family support network.
As you have already heard, women are more likely to experience divorce or separation than in the past. As a result, they are more likely to experience financial hardship and become a lone parent. Single-parent families are five times more likely to live in low income than two-parent families, and over 80% of single-parent families are headed by women. On the positive side, the low-income rate for single mothers has declined considerably in recent years, from over 50% in 1996 to 35.6% in 2004.
Women are also more likely to experience persistent low income than men. Between 1999 and 2004, 6.3% of women lived in low income for at least four years, compared with 4.6% of men. Three groups of women are at higher risk of persistent low income: women with disabilities, immigrant women, and aboriginal women. Women with disabilities make up the majority of adults with disabilities, and this increases with age. Their median income is significantly less than men's: $15,500, compared to $28,157 for men with disabilities.
Immigrant women also face challenges. In 2000, 23% of foreign-born women lived in a low-income situation, a considerably higher percentage than for Canadian-born women.