Tuesday, September 22, 2009
The Downward Trend: EI Training for Women in Ontario
Ten percent less women are receiving EI training then five years ago, ACTEW has learned from a review of EI data for the province.
It's not news that women are less likely to eligible for EI. The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives reported in 2007 that only 32% of women were eligible for EI compared to the national average of 36%. In Ontario, there are, on average, three men receiving regular benefits for every two women.
Women's ineligibility for EI means that two-thirds do not have access to the financial cushion that insurance provides between jobs. It also means that two-thirds of work-ready Canadian women are unable to access EI-funded training opportunities. And those ineligible women are likely to be in poorly paid, unstable, precarious work -- the very people who could benefit from training opportunities.
But EI eligible women also seem to be missing out on training. In reviewing Statistics Canada's EI data for Ontario, ACTEW has found a disturbing new training trend among EI recipients.
Last year, only 21% of EI trainees were women -- for a monthly average of 936 trainees, a year-end total of 11,230 trainees. In comparison, 79% of EI trainees in Ontario in 2008 were men, for a total of 41,060 trainees.
Training for EI eligible women in Ontario is on the wane:
• 2008 had the lowest number of female trainees and the greatest percentile difference between the sexes ever recorded by Statistics Canada (the data begins in 1975)
• in 2007, 25% of training recipients were women;
• in 2006, 27% were women; and
• in 2005, 29% were women.
Prior to this, women's participation in EI training hovered around one-third or 33%.
More research is required to determine why this trend is occurring.
See ACTEW's updated factsheet on Employment Insurance for more on women's level of access.
http://www.actew.org/projects/pwpsite/snapshots/ei.html
It's not news that women are less likely to eligible for EI. The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives reported in 2007 that only 32% of women were eligible for EI compared to the national average of 36%. In Ontario, there are, on average, three men receiving regular benefits for every two women.
Women's ineligibility for EI means that two-thirds do not have access to the financial cushion that insurance provides between jobs. It also means that two-thirds of work-ready Canadian women are unable to access EI-funded training opportunities. And those ineligible women are likely to be in poorly paid, unstable, precarious work -- the very people who could benefit from training opportunities.
But EI eligible women also seem to be missing out on training. In reviewing Statistics Canada's EI data for Ontario, ACTEW has found a disturbing new training trend among EI recipients.
Last year, only 21% of EI trainees were women -- for a monthly average of 936 trainees, a year-end total of 11,230 trainees. In comparison, 79% of EI trainees in Ontario in 2008 were men, for a total of 41,060 trainees.
Training for EI eligible women in Ontario is on the wane:
• 2008 had the lowest number of female trainees and the greatest percentile difference between the sexes ever recorded by Statistics Canada (the data begins in 1975)
• in 2007, 25% of training recipients were women;
• in 2006, 27% were women; and
• in 2005, 29% were women.
Prior to this, women's participation in EI training hovered around one-third or 33%.
More research is required to determine why this trend is occurring.
See ACTEW's updated factsheet on Employment Insurance for more on women's level of access.
http://www.actew.org/projects/pwpsite/snapshots/ei.html
Labels: ACTEW_Activities, Issues_and_Trends, Resources_and_Research
