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Status of Women Canada

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Women in Canada at a Glance Statistical Highlights

Women with Activity Limitations

  • Women are slightly more likely than men to have an activity limitation1. In 2009, 12% of women aged 15 and over reported a long-term health problem or condition that often made performance of everyday tasks difficult. Somewhat fewer men (11%) had an activity limitation.
  • Women with activity limitations are generally older than those without. In 2009, 45% of women with activity limitations were aged 60 and over, compared to 21% of those without. The same pattern is true for men with activity limitations.
  • About 41% of women with activity limitations attributed them to disease or illness. Men, on the other hand, were 1.5 times more likely than women to attribute their limitation to an accident (29% versus 20%, respectively).
  • Women with chronic physical conditions may also experience psychological problems, such as depression or anxiety. Twenty-five percent (25%) of women and 16% of men with activity limitations experienced psychological distress in addition to their physical health problems.
  • Women with activity limitations tend to have lower levels of education. Those aged 25 to 54 were twice as likely as those without an activity limitation to have less than a high school education (13% versus 7.4%, respectively), and only two-thirds as likely to have a university degree (22% versus 32%, respectively). On the other hand, the likelihood of attaining a community college diploma was similar for both groups.
  • Women with activity limitations report lower personal incomes. The average personal income for women with activity limitations was $24,000, about three-quarters that of women without such limitations ($32,100).
  • Women with activity limitations report lower levels of life satisfaction and much higher levels of stress. Only about a quarter (26%) reported being very satisfied with their lives, compared to 41% of other women. Similarly, over one-third of women with activity limitations described their daily lives as highly stressful, compared to less than one-quarter of women without activity limitations.

For additional information, consult the "Women with Activity Limitations" chapter in Women in Canada: A Gender-based Statistical Report, 6th edition, or go to http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/89-503-x/2010001/article/11545-eng.htm.

Prevalence of activity limitations among women and men aged 15 and over, by age group, Canada, 2009

E use with caution
* statistically significant difference from men at p < 0.05
Sources: Statistics Canada, Canadian Community Health Survey, 2009

Text Equivalent of Chart 11

Women and men with activity limitations aged 15 and over, by main cause of activity limitation, Canada, 2009
Main cause of activity limitation Women Men
percentage
E use with caution
* statistically significant difference from men at p < 0.05
Source: Statistics Canada, Canadian Community Health Survey, 2009.
Illness or disease 40.7* 29.5
Ageing 16.5* 11.8
Accident 19.7* 28.9
Motor vehicle accident 6.9 6.7
Accident at work 5.2* 13.2
Accident at home 2.9 2.8
Other type of accident 4.7* 6.3
Existed at birth or genetic 9.7 10.3
Work conditions 5.2* 13.0
Emotional or mental health problem 4.7 3.5
Other (includes use of alcohol or drugs) 3.6 3.1E

1: An "activity limitation" is defined as a long-term or chronic health problem or condition that "often" affects an individual's participation in the activities of daily life.

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Date Modified:
2013-01-11