The causes of women's poverty are complex and involve sexist and racist polices and attitudes toward women and the work women do.
Major reasons for women's poverty include:
(1). Women earn less than men. Jobs held mainly by women tend to be lower-paid or part time jobs. Women's pre-tax incomes all sources is, on average, only 62 percent of what men earn, according to 2001 Census data. Two-thirds of minimum wage workers and two-thirds of part time workers are women. As well, women's wages are lower than men's wages in practically every occupation.
(2). Women are still very much segregated in lower paid jobs such as childcare, secretarial work, call centers, and the textile industry.
(3). Much of women's work is unpaid. Women do more than 80 percent of the unpaid care giving in Canada.
(4). Women live longer than men. In Canada, half of women aged 65 and older who live alone are poor because they have no pension from employment.
(5). Single parent families are mostly headed by women, and the income of single parent families has decreased more than the income of the average family income.
(6). It takes money to make money, and women tend to lack the resources to get out of poverty, such as capital, land, and borrowing opportunities.
(7). More women lack access to education. While more women are graduating from university in Canada, tuition increases make education increasingly difficult to access. As well, women tend to receive fewer training hours in educational programs.
(8). Racism is a major cause of poverty. A 2003 study “If Low-Income Women of Colour Counted in Toronto” shows that racism is a strong factor in the poverty of women of colour for reasons that include discrimination by employers and landlords, lack of affordable housing, and lack of access to affordable high-quality childcare.