UNTIL ALL OF US HAVE MADE IT: GENDER EQUALITY AND ACCESS IN OUR OWN WORDS

‘Until All of Us Have Made It’ highlights how gender-based inequalities play out differently for different segments of the population. The report is based on an opinion survey the Foundation commissioned in early 2020.

Whether looking at outcomes in employment, health, educa­tion, or other areas, there are women in Canada who continue to face significant challenges and systemic inequality. For some women — Indigenous women, racialized women, immigrant women, and women with disabilities to name a few — improvements have been marginal or insignificant.

We asked people in Canada from different backgrounds and identities about the barriers they experience in the following key areas:

  • access to education;
  • access to employment/fair pay;
  • access to housing; and
  • experiences of abuse and access to support services

There are many reports and studies about gendered outcomes in education, employment, income, housing, abuse, and service access, but this report focuses on lived experiences, in the words of respondents, with an intersectional lens. In the context of COVID-19, these results are even more concerning and highlight the importance of post-pandemic recovery plans with an intersectional gendered approach.

Highlights

  • 38% of Indigenous women, 32% with a physical disability, and 41% of women with another type of disability* have experienced physical violence in their personal life.
  • 50% of those who identify as 2SLGBTQI+, 45% of Indigenous women, and 51% of women with a disability other than physical* have experienced emotional abuse.
  • Only 27% report being paid equally to their peers. That number goes down to 16% with a physical disability and 23% of those with another type of disability.
  • Only half of all respondents say their household income covers monthly expenses and allows for some savings. For some groups, the picture is bleaker: 38% of those who identify as 2SLGBTQI+; 16% of those with a physical disability, and 28% of those with another type of disability.

*Respondents who selected ‘other disability’ may have been referring to mental health-related disabilities, disabilities caused by brain trauma, neurodivergence, etc.

Who Was Surveyed

An online survey was conducted by MARU/Matchbox among 1,332 people from different backgrounds and identities living all over Canada. The survey was extended to people over 18 years of age who are not retired, and who identify as female, trans, non-binary, or Two Spirit. The survey did not include those who identify as male. It was conducted in English and French between January 28 and February 11, 2020.

Read the full report