Available in print for order (see SOURCE) and online for download.
Excerpts from report and media release:
The Advisory Council on the Status of Women released its 2004 Report Card on the Status of N.B. Women today March 8 International Women's Day. Chairperson Mary Lou Stirling said, "Our Report Card shows where there has been change and where change is needed. We need to know the facts because there are myths out there, some myths that say that women have reached equality and others that say nothing has changed."
Work and family: 75% of all women with preschoolers were in the labour force in 2002, a jump from 70% the previous year. The Canadian rate was 70%. The majority of lone mothers with preschoolers (60%) were also out working for pay in 2002. Number of New Brunswickers who took parental leave in 2002: fathers, 173; mothers, 2,289.
Lone-parent poverty: About 5,000 lone mothers, or 43% of them, lived in poverty in 2001, up from 42% the previous year, but down from 61% in 1995. The average amount that lone mothers living in poverty in the province needed to reach the "poverty line" increased: in 2001, they would have needed on average $4,100, (the previous year, they needed $3,200 and in 1980, $6,200 - in constant 2001 dollars). The impact of the tax exemptions for low-income citizens introduced by the N.B. government in January 2001 and 2003 may be seen in statistics available next year.
Pay gap: Women who worked full or part-time earned on average 82% of what men earned in 2003, an improvement from 81% the previous year but women earned 82% of what men earned in 1998. Women who were recent graduates of Community colleges and were working full time earned 15% less than male graduates in 2002. Those who had recently graduated from N.B. universities and were working full time in 2001 earned 13% less than their male graduates.