Canada ranks 11th best country in the world for female economic empowerment

Mar 7 2019, 4:50 am

Canada was recently ranked the third best country in the world for women, but when it comes to female representation and empowerment in the workplace, there’s room for improvement.

This is according to PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Women in Work Index 2019. 

The Index ranks female economic empowerment in 33 Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries based on data from 2017.

The Index is a weighted average on the following five variables:

  • Gap between female and male earnings (Weighted 25%)
  • Female labour force participation rate (Weighted 25%)
  • Gap between and male labour force participation rates (Weighted 20%)
  • Female unemployment rate (Weighted 20%)
  • Share of female employees in full-time employment (Weighted 10%)

According to PwC, Canada comes in at 11th place, with an Index score of 66.

women

Canada’s performance in PwC’s Women in Work Index 2019

PwC’s breakdown shows men in Canada making 18.2% more than women.

Canada scored high when it came to its female labour force with nearly 75% participation rate.

woemn

Female labour force participation rate/ PwC

When it comes to the gap between male and female labour force participation rate, Canada ranks fairly well with about a 7% difference.

women

Figure 5.3: Gap between the male and female labour force participation rate, 2000 – 2017

Canada’s female employment rate also hovers slightly over 5% but only three-quarters of women are employed full time.

women

Female unemployment rate/ PwC

So which countries came out on top?

Iceland, Sweden, and New Zealand ranked as the best countries for female economic empowerment.

“Iceland remains the top performer in our Index improving on its score from 2016 due to a reduction in the gap between the male and female labour force participation rate and the female unemployment rate,” notes PwC.

“However, women in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) still face significant challenges and inequalities in the workplace. The pay gap persists and women are still under-represented in corporate leadership, with women accounting for only one-in-five of board seats in the largest publicly-listed companies in the OECD.”

Women in Work Index Ranking 2019

  1. Iceland
  2. Sweden
  3. New Zealand
  4. Slovenia
  5. Norway
  6. Luxembourg
  7. Denmark
  8. Poland
  9. Finland
  10. Belgium
  11. Canada
  12. Switzerland
  13. UK
  14. Hungary
  15. Australia
  16. Portugal
  17. Ireland
  18. Germany
  19. Netherlands
  20. Estonia
  21. Isreal
  22. France
  23. United States
  24. Czech Republic
  25. Austria
  26. Slovak Republic
  27. Japan
  28. Spain
  29. Italy
  30. Chile
  31. Greece
  32. Mexico
  33. Korea
Simran SinghSimran Singh

+ News
+ Venture
+ Canada
ADVERTISEMENT