did you know?

The following facts are available for viewing on YWCA Canada's website (www.ywcacanada.ca):

• Slightly more than half of all people living in Canada are women or female children. In 2004, there were a total of 16.1 million females in Canada, representing 50.4% of the overall population that year. Women constitute a particularly large segment of the senior population in Canada. In 2004, women made up 69% of all persons aged 85 and older, 59% of those aged 75 to 84, and 53% of people aged 65 to 74.
• There has also been an increase in the proportion of women who are lone parents from 5% in the early 1970s to 9% in 2001. Indeed, in 2001, there were over 1 million female-headed lone-parent families in Canada. That year, 20% of families with children were headed by a female lone parent, double the figure in 1971.
• Employed women are far more likely than their male counterparts to lose time from their jobs because of personal or family responsibilities
• Women have increased their representation in several professional fields in recent years. Indeed, women currently make up over half those employed in both diagnostic and treating positions in medicine and related health professions and in business and financial professional positions
• While a growing number of women are part of the paid workforce in Canada many women also participate in their communities through formal volunteer activities. In 2003, over 4.5 million Canadian women aged 15 and over, 35% of the total female population, did unpaid work for a volunteer organization. That year, women made up 54% of all those doing unpaid volunteer work through a formal organization.
• The average earnings of employed women are still substantially lower than those of men, even when employed full-time. In 2003, women working fulltime, full-year had average earnings of $36,500, or 71% what men employed full-time, full-year made that year. As well, the gap between the earnings of women and men has not changed substantially in the past decade.
• There has been a dramatic increase in the proportion of the female population with a university degree in the past several decades. In 2001, 15% of women aged 15 and over had a university degree, up from just 3% in 1971. Women, though, are still slightly less likely than men to have a university degree, although the gap is currently much smaller than in the past.
• The increased participation of women in the paid work force has been one of the most significant social trends in Canada in the past quarter century. In 2004, 58% of all women aged 15 and over were part of the paid work force, up from 42% in 1976. In contrast, the proportion of men who were employed fell during this period from 73% to 68%. As a result, women accounted for 47% of the employed workforce in 2004, up from 37% in 1976.
• Women are considerably more likely than men to be victims of violent crimes such as sexual assault and criminal harassment.  Indeed, in 2004, there were over six times as many female victims of sexual assault as male victims. Similarly, women were over three times more likely than men to be victims of criminal harassment.
• The majority of assaults against women are perpetrated by someone they know. In 2004, the assailants in 70% of violent incidents committed against women were either relatives or acquaintances. In fact, women are particularly likely to be victimized by a current or former spouse, a current or former partner in a dating relationship, or a family member.