Flexible Work – Better Jobs and Better Salaries for Women

Flexible work is an asset for effective working time, for productivity, for reduction of wage inequality between the sexes, as well as between women with different family situations.

Balance between private and professional life

According to a study from the University of British Columbia, flexible work hours reduce the wage gap to 68% between women who have children and those who do not. The possibility of working from home brings this proportion to 58%. Flexible working conditions have the greatest effect especially for women with a higher education degree, since without this flexibility mothers earn 7% less than women without children.

In addition, employees who benefit from arranging their working time with flexible hours and/or who have the opportunity for teleworking express better satisfaction. Their job provides them with the comfort of being able to meet the imperatives of their personal life, especially their obligations regarding their children. As a result, flexibility at work favours women’s careers while allowing couples to share their tasks more equitably, thereby promoting gender equality.

On the employer’s side, flexible work is a means to be able to offer employment both to women who are mothers and to those who are not, by allowing them to make their own schedules according to their needs. It is conceivable that an employer hiring a person for flexible work would not need to really be concerned about candidates’ family situations, which then reduces the possibility of discrimination in hiring.

Steady progress of flexible jobs

Flexibility of times and work are considered as a solution to reconcile work and personal life. They are also a solution to part-time work, which is very relevant to many women with children, and which limits the opportunities for development as well as a source of non-fulfilment at work.

Employment statistics in Canada show that the practice of full-time work performed outside the home and on regular 9 to 5 schedules now affect only one in three workers. The rate of regular employment for Canadian women is even lower, not even reaching one in three workers…

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