"The Outlook for Old Age Is Not Hopeful" : The Struggle of Female Teachers over Pensions in Quebec 1880-1914

This article examines the struggle led by Quebec Protestant and Catholic women teachers' associations for a more just pension scheme from the late nineteenth century to the First World War. In Quebec, superannuation schemes for public school teachers dated back to the 1850s. In 1880, a compulsory, state-administered, pension plan for both male and female certified lay teachers was introduced. It discriminated seriously against women teachers, who constituted the majority of the lay teaching force; since the amount to be allocated was calculated on the basis of a teacher's average salary and total years of service, women teachers, who were paid considerably less than their male colleagues and also tended to have shorter careers, were to receive a much smaller pension. The present discussion explores the dynamics of the battles conducted by Quebec women teachers to eliminate these inequalities as well as the strategies and tactics they adopted to bring about change. It also sheds light on the importance of support received from other women's groups as well as on gender politics in teaching in turn-of-the-century Quebec. Cet article traite des luttes que les associations d’institutrices protestantes et catholiques du Quebec ont menees de la fin du dix-neuvieme siecle jusqu’a la Premiere Guerre mondiale pour obtenir un regime de pension plus equitable. Les enseignants et enseignantes du systeme scolaire public beneficiaient d’un tel regime depuis les annees 1850. En 1880, un regime obligatoire fut instaure a l’intention des institutrices et instituteurs laiques brevetes exercants dans les ecoles primaires publiques, regime qui etait nettement discriminatoire a l’endroit de la majorite du corps enseignant laique, c’est-a-dire les femmes. Puisque le calcul de la pension se basait sur le salaire moyen et le nombre total des annees de service, les institutrices, qui touchaient un salaire bien inferieur a celui de leurs collegues masculins et enseignaient generalement moins longtemps que ces derniers, recevaient a leur depart une somme derisoire. L’analyse qui suit explore les strategies et les tactiques que les institutrices utiliserent pour rectifier la situation. Elle eclaire aussi les relations entre les associations d’institutrices et les autres associations feminines ainsi que les rapports qui prevalaient au sein du corps enseignant quebecois au tournant du siecle entre les deux sexes.

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