Gender Equality Survey's Impact on Woodstock

Thursday, 16 July 2015 07:44

We take a look at the job market here in Woodstock after London was named the top city for women in Ontario and KW was listed as one of the worst.

WOODSTOCK - Two of Woodstock's neighbours appeared on a list comparing the equality of women in Canadian cities - one fared pretty well...the other came dead last.

The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives looked at 25 major cities in Canada and ranked them according to how equally women were treated compared to men in those cities. London was the highest ranking city from Ontario, coming in at number 6, while the Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo area came at the very bottom of the list. The rankings were based on five areas: economic security, leadership, health, personal security, and education. The report focuses only on the difference between men and women in these cities, not the overall well being.

Falling between London and KW might have been cause for concern, but Employment Councillor at the Women's Employment Centre in Woodstock, Heather Bree Davies, says we should more closely align ourselves with London. "We're actually in the London catchments base for the labour market information. I'm going to say we identify a little bit closer with London than we do with the Kitchener-Waterloo, but we still do have a lot of women who come in to use our services on a daily basis - they are women who are low income, who are under employed, a lot of the time who have a higher education, a lot of the time who are trying to find work and at this time it's survival work."

20% of women in London were considered to be living below the low income level and earn 77% of the full time wages men do. In KW, 16.5% of women were living below the low income level, but making only 69% what a man does in a full time position.

When it comes to unemployment here in the Friendly City, Bree Davies says we might be seeing a bit of shift in terms of the kind of work women are taking on. "What the report has sort of represented is that the traditional areas where women are working like education, teachers and that sort of thing - we're not offering any more jobs in those field so those are staying really stagnant. We need to be able to pour funds into those areas or be able to educate women in the certain industries that cities are thriving in; so perhaps manufacturing or trades or apprenticeships in those areas."

Bree Davies encourages women who might be struggling to find employment to come into the Employment Centre and take advantage of some of their free services. They provide training in workplace skills, resume building, and workshops. The centre is located at 424 Dundas Street in Woodstock.

The top five cities to live in for women in Canada are Victoria BC, Gatineau QC, Quebec City QC, Abbotsford-Mission BC, and Halifax NS.

The full report can be read at www.policyalternatives.ca