Today (weds) is International Women’s Day and a special report issued by RBC Economics says after being dealt a major blow at the beginning of the pandemic prime age women saw their labour force participation soar to a record 84 per cent in 2021.

The report says Covid-19 shed a harsh light on labour market inequities prompting Ottawa to invest in child-care. On Monday it was announced that Saskatchewan would achieve $10/day childcare, three years early, starting April 1st.

However, the report also outlines a consistent wage gap for women in the country and chronic underrepresentation of women in executive-level jobs.

Not only is the gap in labour force participation highest for mothers with young kids, but this disparity also widens as kids get older. The RBC report says women with children between the ages of 6 and 12 earned 82 cents for every dollar earned by men with children in the same age group. And for women, the earnings penalty extends well past a child’s first few years of life. But for men having children is associated with an increase in earnings