Participation in the labour force by women in Canada has increased since 1997 and now surpasses the United States by a significant margin, according to a new study by Statistics Canada.
The study, released yesterday, showed that while participation rates among women aged 25 to 54 in the two countries were roughly the same in 1997, it increased to 81 per cent in Canada by 2015 but fell in the United States to 74 per cent from 77 per cent.
While participation rates have been increasing for several decades in both countries, they had generally been slightly higher in the United States. That began to change during the most recent study period, according to Statistics Canada.
In trying to explain the divergence, the authors, Marie Drolet, Sharanjit Uppal and Sébastien LaRochelle-Côté, suggested labour market conditions, due to strong economic growth in Canada prior to the 2008 economic downturn, may have played a role.
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“In contrast, the United States was hit by the worst recession in decades in the late 2000s, which likely stymied employment opportunities for women — especially those with lower levels of education,” they wrote.
“Canada was also hit by a recession but did not experience the same drop in the [labour force participation rate] of women during those years.”
In terms of the age groups driving the increase in Canada, the study found women aged 45 to 54 were a big factor. Their participation rate increased to 82 per cent from 72 per cent during the time period studied. South of the border, that age group’s participation declined to 74 per cent from 76 per cent. The study also found Canadian women with lower levels of education in that age group saw significant gains in labour force participation. Among women aged 45 to 54 with a high school diploma or less, participation rose to 72 per cent in 2015 from 64 per cent in 1997. Again, the trend went in the opposite direction in the United States.
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Education levels, however, have been a significant factor in boosting labour force participation by women, the study noted. And it’s not just participation that has increased. The employment rate for women aged 25 to 54 in Canada also increased and, by 2015, was seven percentage points higher than in the United States.
And what about the gap in labour force participation between men and women? The study found the gender gap in Canada narrowed to nine percentage points by 2015 from 18 percentage points in 1990. The gap narrowed as the labour force participation rate of men aged 25 to 54 in Canada fell by two percentage points over that period. In the United States, the gap fell to 14 percentage points from 19 percentage points in 1990.
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