Backgrounder - New federal funding will help improve women’s economic security in New Brunswick
Backgrounder
Status of Women Canada – Women’s Program
One of the ways Status of Women Canada advances gender equality in Canada is by providing funding to eligible organizations through the Women’s Program. Projects are selected via calls for proposals on specific themes, as well as through a continuous intake process that allows the Women’s Program to accept applications on an ongoing basis.
The Women’s Program funds projects of up to five years that address systemic barriers to women’s equality in three priority areas: ending violence against women and girls; improving the economic security of women and girls; and encouraging women and girls in leadership roles.
Calls for Proposals – Support for Women’s Economic Security and Addressing the Economic Security and Prosperity of Indigenous Women
On October 2, 2017, the Honourable Maryam Monsef, Minister of Status of Women, launched two calls for proposals. The first call, entitled Support for Women’s Economic Security, invited organizations to apply for funding for projects to address the economic security of women and help advance gender equality in Canada. More than 30 projects will receive a total of $10 million in funding through this call for proposals.
This call for proposals is divided into two themes; the first is Building Partnerships to Address Systemic Barriers, which provides funding to address major barriers that limit women’s economic security, including, but not limited to, the accessibility of childcare, the gender wage gap and pay inequity.
The second theme, Increasing Private Sector Leadership and Investments in Women, encourages organizations to partner with the private sector to find innovative solutions that will help advance women’s economic security.
The second call for proposals, entitled Addressing the Economic Security and Prosperity of Indigenous Women, invited organizations to foster collaboration between Indigenous women, Indigenous organizations, their communities, and the private sector to support the economic security and prosperity of Indigenous women across Canada. Fourteen projects across the country will receive more than $4.3 million in funding through this call for proposals.
Funded Project
Restigouche CBDC is a not-for-profit organization that provides financial and technical services to entrepreneurs to help in the creation of small businesses and in the expansion and modernization of existing businesses. They provide business counselling, training and advice, as well as loans, loan guarantees and equity financing to existing and aspiring entrepreneurs.
Project Description
Restigouche CBDC will receive $308,724 in funding for their project, “Increasing Private Sector Leadership and Investments in Women Experiencing Violence.” This 36-month project will help increase the economic security of women who have experienced domestic violence by providing opportunities for sustainable employment. This will be achieved by engaging key stakeholders in the development of an action plan to address barriers faced by women fleeing situations of violence. The main activities of the project include a needs assessment to determine the scope of the issue and the creation of an action plan to develop new business policies and procedures that include accommodation options for women fleeing violence. The project will also pilot the implementation of such options through work experiences for women and provide an evaluation of the initiative.
Statistics – Women’s Economic Security
In 2017, women in New Brunswick earned $0.93 for every dollar earned by men on an average hourly basis.
In 2015, 82.0% of women in the core working ages of 25 to 54 years (6 million) participated in the labour market.
In 2015, women represented 47.2% of the labour force, up from 45.7% in 1999 and 37.1% in 1976.
In 2015, the national employment rate for women was 77.5% compared to 85.3% for men.
On average women work 5.6 hours per week less than men (35.5 hours/week compared to 41.1 hours/week).
Currently, 19% of employed women work part-time (compared with 5.5% of employed men).
The average net worth of lone mothers was less than half of that of lone fathers: $240,000 versus $540,000. Unattached women and men had similar average net worth at $250,000 and $230,000, respectively.
Lone mothers had the lowest average adjusted income ($25,300), followed by those who were unattached ($33,700). The average adjusted incomes of lone fathers and unattached men were similar (around $40,300). Notably, the average adjusted income of lone mothers was $15,000 less than that of lone fathers.