A Better World: Int

Draw (or if you have clay or dough, create) a piece of pottery for Int. Want an extra challenge? Imagine how you would draw if you could only use the arms you chose for your robot in your passport.

Imagine you are hired as a dog walker three days a week. You get paid $5 a day. The family has a second dog walker for the other days of the week. You find out that the other person is getting $10 a day even though you do the same work! That doesn’t sound fair, right? It’s important to make sure that everyone gets equal pay for the same work!

Now, think about all the things people do at home like cooking, cleaning, taking care of little kids, or helping grandparents. These are really important jobs, but most of the time, people don’t get paid for them. This is called unpaid labour because it’s work that helps everyone, but no money is given for it. Imagine if you had to do all the chores at home while also having a job – that would be a lot of work!

When people are paid fairly and everyone shares the work at home, people are treated equally, and the world is a fairer place.

• How would you feel if you and a friend did the same work, but they got paid more? What would you do about it?
• Why do you think it’s important for people to get equal pay for the same work?
• Can you think of any chores or jobs you do at home that don’t get paid? How do they help your family?
• What are some ways families can make sure chores are shared more fairly?

This world explores the concept of the gender wage gap and unpaid labour.

The topic: The gender wage gap is the difference in pay between men and women for doing the same or similar work. In Canada, women still earn less than men. In 2024, women earned 87 cents for every dollar earned by men^{Footnote 1} . This gender wage gap is even larger for Black, Indigenous, women of colour, and gender-diverse women.

There are many reasons for this gap, including:

• women often take on more caregiving responsibilities, like raising children or caring for family members
• limited access to affordable childcare makes it harder for women to work full-time
• biases in hiring and promotions mean women are sometimes paid less or overlooked for leadership roles

Another big factor is unpaid labour – work that people do without getting paid – like cooking meals, cleaning the house, doing laundry and taking care of children or elders. In Canada (and globally), women do more unpaid work than men. In 2022, women spent 3.7 hours on unpaid work every day, compared to men who spent 2.6 hours per day^{Footnote 2} . That adds up over time and makes a big difference.

Why this is important: The gender wage gap affects women throughout their lives^{Footnote 3} :

• Summer jobs: Girls 12 to 18 make about $3.00 less per hour than boys in their summer jobs^{Footnote 4} 
• After post-secondary education: Women graduate from college and university with student debt, but often earn less, making it harder to pay off loans^{Footnote 5} 
• Retirement: Women retire with smaller pensions because they earn less over their lifetimes. For every dollar of retirement income men receive, women get only 83 cents^{Footnote 6}  

Women also often take on more unpaid work, like caregiving and housework. This can leave them with less time and energy for paid jobs, education, or just relaxing, which can affect how much money they earn. These differences contribute to the gender wage gap.

All work has value, whether it’s paid or unpaid.

When people are paid fairly for the same work and unpaid responsibilities are shared more equally, everyone benefits. It helps families be more financially secure, strengthens Canada’s economy, and builds a fairer, more equal society for all.