Women On Top, By the Numbers

On the occasion of International Women’s Day, we ask: Are more women making it to the top in Canada? And what does that mean for the 100 per cent? The 2013 edition, by the numbers. (All data are most recently available statistics.)

1 out of 5: 21 per cent of the people in the top 1 per cent of income earners were women 2010 (total incomes over $201,400). In 1982: 1 in 10 (11 per cent) Source

18 per cent: Women’s share of income of the top 1 per cent in 2010. In 1982: 11 per cent Source

34 per cent: Income of top-1-per-cent women that came from paid work in 2010. In 1982: 13 per cent

(Men: 73.5 per cent in 2010, 61 per cent in 1982) Source

68 per cent: Women in top 1 per cent who were married or living common-law in 2010. In 1982: 50 per cent

(Men: 87 per cent in 2010, 88 per cent in 1982) Source

14.5 per cent: Proportion of seats on corporate boards occupied by women in Canada. Source In 2003: 11.2 per cent Source

8 per cent: Proportion of women holding “top executive jobs”. In 2005: 4.6 per cent Source

1: Number of women CEOs in Canada’s Top 100 Corporations Source In 1998: 0 (Source: Hardcopy edition of Globe and Mail’s Top 100 index)

24 per cent: Proportion of women in House of Commons today. Source In 1998: 20.3 per cent Source

16.8 per cent: Proportion of women in government caucus today. Source In 1998: 23.2 per cent Source

23.7 per cent: Proportion of women in federal cabinet today (9 of 38). Source In 1998: 32.1 per cent (9 of 28) Source

36.5 per cent: Proportion of women in Senate today. Source In 1998: 26.9 per cent Source

1: Number of women who have been Prime Minister (Kim Campbell, PC, for 4 months, 9 days) Source

0: Number of women who have been Finance Minister

30 per cent: Benchmark for critical mass of women in decision-making Source

6: Number of premiers in Canada who are women today. Source (governing 87.7 per cent of Canada’s population Source) In 2000: 1 (Yukon, accounting for 0.1 per cent of Canada’s population) Source

50.7 per cent: Proportion of Canadian population aged 15 and over who are women Source

47.4 per cent: Proportion of income tax payers who were women in 2010. Source In 1982: 39.3 per cent (Source: Taxation Statistics from Revenue Canada, hardcopy)

62.2 per cent: Proportion of women aged 15 and over in the labour market today. In 1976: 45.7 per cent Source

64.4 per cent: Proportion of women with children under age 3 who were working in 2009. In 1976: 27.6 per cent Source

49.8 per cent: Proportion of employees who are women today. In 1976: 38.6 per cent Source

35.7 per cent: Proportion of self-employed who are women today. In 1976: 26.3 per cent Source

44.2 per cent: Share of total income of the bottom 99 per cent going to women in 2010. In 1982: 33.5 per cent Source

60 per cent: Share of total income of the bottom 50 per cent going to women in 2010. In 1982: 57.9 per cent Source

$3.57: Average amount by women earned less per hour than men for full-time work in Canada in 2012 (ranges from parity in PEI to $5.79 an hour in Alberta) Source

(Since 1997, the pay gap has decreased by between 11 per cent and 100 per cent in inflation-adjusted terms everywhere but in Alberta – where it has grown)

More: Amount of unpaid work inside and outside the home Source – though it’s converging over time Source

Less: Amount of bickering (and more ch-ck-a-bow-bow) if there was more gender equality Source

Beyond just the facts, ma’am:

Here’s a provocative and unvarnished discussion about whether we still need “binders full of women” to find qualified female experts to step up to the plate, and make their voices heard, to and from the top.

Here’s a provocative and unvarnished essay, written by a woman on top, that says women can’t have it all.

So what does it mean if there are more women on top? More power? More money? More influence? Does it matter? You decide. Happy International Women’s Day!

This article was first published at the Globe and Mail’s online business feature Economy Lab.