Since the introduction of the Employment Equity Act in 1986, organizations in Canada's federal jurisdiction have been required to adopt Employment Equity Programs (EEPs) designed to increase the presence of four traditionally under-represented groups: women, aboriginal peoples, disabled persons, and visible minorities. This dissertation reports the results of a study that identifies the type of EEPs organizations subject to the Act have adopted, examines the impact that EEPs have had on hiring and promotion, and identifies what makes an EEP effective. Results suggest that organizations that adopt EEPs that are more formalized, more comprehensive, and better supported are more likely to hire and promote a representative number of designated group members (especially non-minority women and members of visible minorities). Implications for practitioners and policy makers are discussed.

No description available.

No description available.

In the past twenty-five years there has been a marked increase in the number of women in the paid labour force, especially among women with young children. Time studies have shown that when a woman has a young family plus a position in the paid labour force, she works a very long day and has little time for recreational or leisure pursuits. This thesis therefore poses the following questions: 1. Do women who participate in the paid labour force report poorer health status than their counterparts who are homemakers? 2. Do women who participate in the paid labour force exhibit lifestyle patterns significantly different from their homemaker counterparts? 3. Do women in the paid labour force exhibit health care utilization patterns significantly different from their homemaker counterparts? and 4. Do women's lifestyles, reported health status and health care utilization patterns differ from those of their male counterparts in the paid labour force? Data from the 1978-79 Canada Health Survey (C.H.S.), which had asked a wide cross-section of Canadians about their lifestyle, health status and use of the health care system, were used to explore these questions. A model was then developed for this study which linked health risk behaviours, health status and health care related behaviours, and which used the variables available in the C.H.S. data base. Multiple Classification Analyses were carried out to determine the best predictors of women's health risk behaviours, health status and health care related behaviours. The three study groups were then standardized using the top two predictors and the rates of the various states and behaviours were compared. First, in the prediction of women's health risk behaviours, the demographic variables included in the model were not effective as only 3-4% of the variance in the scores could be explained. Secondly, in the prediction of health status scores, the composite health risk scores developed for each subject plus the demographic variables were able to explain 4 - 11% of the variation. Thirdly, in the prediction of women's health care related behaviours the composite health risk scores, the health status scores and the demographic variables were together able to explain 14 - 27% of the variance. When the standardized rates for high health risk behaviours were compared, there were significant differences between the three groups but no group was consistently better or worse than any other. The men's group however, consistently reported better health and less use of the health care system. The women's groups reported similar health states but women in the paid labour force reported a higher use of medications and fewer days in hospital. The C.H.S. was designed to address issues which affect the whole population. The questions therefore, were not always sufficiently specific to describe the special circumstances of women, especially for example in their childbearing and nurturing years. The rapidly changing social and economic circumstances of women and their families, as women enter the paid labour force, plus the need for more information on their health risk behaviours - what these behaviours are, and what predisposes women to engage in them - point to the need for more research focused specifically on this section of the population. / Medicine, Faculty of / Population and Public Health (SPPH), School of / Graduate

Asian women make up the fastest growing category of the world's population of migrant workers. The thesis examines labor and immigration policies of Canada as a host country for Filipino women migrant workers. It also determines how Canada's working environment for Filipino women migrant workers is mapped out. The thesis is anchored on three major concerns. The first is an analysis of the Philippines as a leading labor exporting country. The thesis expounds on the state mechanisms promoting labor exportation and the corresponding problems that ensue. It is argued that a majority of the problems of labor migration from the Philippines can be attributed to the inadequate policies and laws of the government in the 1970s when labor export first flourished. The second area of concern is a situation analysis of the Filipina migrant workers who come to Canada to work as live-in caregivers. This discussion is focused on Canada's general framework of immigration laws, foreign worker policies and the pertinent provincial labor laws of British Columbia. It analyzes how these pieces of legislation have been shaped by Canada's national policies. The thesis argues that Canada's regulations restricting the rights of foreign domestic workers and the marginalization of their social mobility and status reflect the unequal relationship between the host and the sending countries. The third and most important concern is a policy analysis of the Live-In Caregiver Program vis-a-vis migrants' rights and labor issues. The thesis argues that Canada, through the continuation of the Live-In Caregiver Program, provides Filipino domestic workers inequitable working conditions. It is argued that since Canada is an international forerunner in championing human rights, it becomes anachronistic that a cluster of the country's immigration policies continue to advocate indentured form of labor. Canada is in a unique position, both as a traditional immigrants' country and as an international player, to blaze the trail for international recognition of migrant workers' rights. Canada must eliminate the double standards in the Live-In Caregiver Program vis-a-vis the general immigration policies. Therefore, it is argued that in order to maintain the high marks it has been receiving at the international level, Canada must eliminate two requirements of the Live-In Caregiver Program: First, the two-year live-in requirement and second, the temporary migrant status of live-in caregivers upon initial entry to Canada. Live-in work must be optional and not subject to the granting of permanent residence status. To preserve it international reputation, Canada must also make reforms on the international level by ratifying and implementing international conventions.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Saint Mary's University, 2008. / Includes abstract and appendices. Advisor: E. Kevin Kelloway. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 135-147).

This study seeks to explain the observed differences in the earnings of individual Canadians by sex. The study uses data from the micro data file of the 1986 Survey of Consumer Finances of individuals age 15 and over, with and without income. To a large extent, the study follows the examples presented in other Canadian studies conducted by Holmes (1974), Robb (1978), Gunderson (1980), Goyder (1981) and Ornstein (1983). Employment earnings account for an overwhelming proportion of the total income received by individuals. Thus, the examination of the earnings differential attempts to address the root causes of many of the problems faced by nontraditional families. Canadian society is no longer largely composed of the traditional family with a working father and the homemaking mother. The growing number of dual-earner couples, single and childless adults, and households headed by women presents a difficult challenge for social policy. The male-female earnings disparity is a key component in exacerbating problems that include the availability of credit for women, the feminization of poverty, access to affordable and adequate housing, and adequate incomes for retirement. To effectively address the problems that have resulted from the interaction of greater female participation in the labour force and the formation of alternate household types, planners and policy makers need to address the root problem of sexual inequality in the labour force, and not solely the symptoms. In the context of changing family structure and the economic position of women, the focus of this study is to identify the size of the male-female earnings gap, and to determine the extent to which the earnings gap can be explained by personal, work and productivity-related characteristics. The impact of these factors are analyzed from two points of view. First, the impact of individual factors on the level of earnings are analyzed through a simple comparison of mean earnings of men and women across a variety of characteristics. Second, the influence of these factors on earnings, and the degree of inequality between the earnings of men and women, is analyzed using multiple linear regression analysis. Regression analysis is used to estimate separate earnings equations for men and women. From the separate earnings equations, the wage gap can be partitioned into three parts, due to differences in (1) constant terms, (2) mean levels of the independent variables, and (3) the returns of the independent variables. Further, to assess the impact of occupational and industrial segregation on the earnings gap, a second set of earnings equations are calculated that do not include measures of occupational and industrial segregation. The calculations of separate earnings equations for men and women, for the selected sample, produced an unadjusted earnings ratio of 0.66. After adjustments were made for the ten productivity and productivity-related factors considered in the analysis, including occupational and industrial distributions, the ratio increased to 0.79. This left an earnings gap of $5,985 (1985 dollars) that could not be assigned to any of the measured variables. While part of the unexplained residual may be explained by variables not included in the analysis, or by more careful measurement of existing variables, it seems likely that at least 20 percentage points of the earnings gap is attributable to "an amalgam of different forms of discrimination which, taken together, disadvantage women relative to men", (Denton and Hunter, 1982). Discrimination is defined as different returns in earnings for equal productivity characteristics, as given by the regression coefficients. Of the total earnings gap of 34 percent, approximately 60% of this is attributable to wage discrimination, and approximately 40% is due to differences in productivity-related characteristics Occupational and industrial segregation account for a large proportion of the earnings gap. The adjusted earnings ratio, when occupational and industrial segregation are not considered endowments, is 0.69. Thus, the difference between the full-regression equation and the partial regression equation indicates that occupational and industrial segregation accounts for approximately 30% of the earnings gap. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate

Asian women make up the fastest growing category of the world's population of migrant workers. The thesis examines labor and immigration policies of Canada as a host country for Filipino women migrant workers. It also determines how Canada's working environment for Filipino women migrant workers is mapped out. The thesis is anchored on three major concerns. The first is an analysis of the Philippines as a leading labor exporting country. The thesis expounds on the state mechanisms promoting labor exportation and the corresponding problems that ensue. It is argued that a majority of the problems of labor migration from the Philippines can be attributed to the inadequate policies and laws of the government in the 1970s when labor export first flourished. The second area of concern is a situation analysis of the Filipina migrant workers who come to Canada to work as live-in caregivers. This discussion is focused on Canada's general framework of immigration laws, foreign worker policies and the pertinent provincial labor laws of British Columbia. It analyzes how these pieces of legislation have been shaped by Canada's national policies. The thesis argues that Canada's regulations restricting the rights of foreign domestic workers and the marginalization of their social mobility and status reflect the unequal relationship between the host and the sending countries. The third and most important concern is a policy analysis of the Live-In Caregiver Program vis-a-vis migrants' rights and labor issues. The thesis argues that Canada, through the continuation of the Live-In Caregiver Program, provides Filipino domestic workers inequitable working conditions. It is argued that since Canada is an international forerunner in championing human rights, it becomes anachronistic that a cluster of the country's immigration policies continue to advocate indentured form of labor. Canada is in a unique position, both as a traditional immigrants' country and as an international player, to blaze the trail for international recognition of migrant workers' rights. Canada must eliminate the double standards in the Live-In Caregiver Program vis-a-vis the general immigration policies. Therefore, it is argued that in order to maintain the high marks it has been receiving at the international level, Canada must eliminate two requirements of the Live-In Caregiver Program: First, the two-year live-in requirement and second, the temporary migrant status of live-in caregivers upon initial entry to Canada. Live-in work must be optional and not subject to the granting of permanent residence status. To preserve it international reputation, Canada must also make reforms on the international level by ratifying and implementing international conventions. / Law, Peter A. Allard School of / Graduate

published_or_final_version / Sociology / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

In 2000, 79 percent of married Canadian women between the ages of 25 and 44 were in the labour force and 75 percent were employed.1 Many Canadian families with working parents use costly child-care, and many of these families take advantage of the child-care expense deduction (CCED): in 1998, 71 percent of families with pre-school children used child-care services to work or study at a given point in time,2 and 868,460 taxfilers reported nearly $2.4 billion in child-care expenditures on 1,390,200 children.3 In this thesis, I examine the effects of parental labour supply and child-care use on children, the impacts that child-care costs have on the labour supply of married mothers, and the fairness of the tax system with respect to child-care costs. Chapters I, and V are introductory and concluding chapters, respectively. In chapter II, I consider the question of whether parental labour supply and child-care use affect child cognitive and behavioural outcomes. Parental labour supply reduces the amount of time parents have for their children. On the other hand, parents can replace their own time with child-care services and can also purchase more market goods with additional income earned at work. I examine this question using the first three cycles of the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY), which provide both a large sample size and a rich source of data, including controls for parenting skills. The possible joint detennination of labour supply and child outcomes is also tested. In chapter III, I estimate the impact of child-care costs on the return to work of married Canadian women with children under three, using data from the 1988 Canadian National Childcare Survey (CNCCS) and Labour Market Activity Survey (LMAS). Data from the 1995 Canadian General Social Survey indicate that Canadian mothers have split views on the issue of whether parental labour supply has deleterious effects on child outcomes. Furthermore, women's views on these issues tend to be consistent with their labour supply, suggesting their views may affect whether they choose to work or not. If women's preferences for work are based on thenviews and are correlated with other explanatory variables such as education and cost of care, the estimated coefficients on these explanatory variables will be biased. In order to allow for these potential differences in responsiveness to childcare costs, I estimate separate models where current or previous occupation and weeks worked in the previous 12 months are used as control variables in the estimation to account for heterogeneity of preferences. In chapter IV of the thesis, I use data from the CNCCS and LMAS to examine the vertical and horizontal equity of the CCED. Vertical equity is evaluated by comparing CCED benefit rates for different family levels of earnings. This is done for dual earner families with childcare costs and similar characteristics. Horizontal equity is examined by investigating whether the existence of the CCED increases or decreases the difference between effective tax rates of families with similar earnings but different labour supplies. I use measures of actual and potential earnings to evaluate both vertical and horizontal equity.