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Structural Influences on Participation Rates: A Canada-U.S. Comparison

In: A Symposium on Canadian Labour Force Participation in the 1990s (Special Issue of Canadian Business Economics, Volume 7, Number 2, May 1999)

Author

Listed:
  • Irene Ip
  • Sheryl King
  • Geneviève Verdier

Abstract

In contrast to the decline in labour force participation in Canada in the 1990s, the aggregate participation rate in the United States actually rose slightly (up 0.5 percentage points between 1989 and 1997). This US experience provides a useful benchmark for the analysis of the Canadian developments. In the second article of the symposium, Irene Ip, Sheryl King and Geneviève Verdier, while recognizing that cyclical influences have contributed significantly to the decline in labour force participation in the 1990s in Canada relative to the United States, focus on supply-side factors at play in the behviour of the participation rate in the two countries. A key structural variable influencing youth labour force participation is enrolment rates. As the participation rate of students is below that of non-students, increased enrolment tends to reduce aggregate participation. Enrolment rates for teenagers increased 7 percentage points in Canada between 1989 and 1997, and 5 points in the United States; rates for youth adults increased 11 points in Canada and 7 points in the United States. As the U.S. economy enjoyed low unemployment in both 1989 and 1997, the rise in enrolment rates was related to structural factors, such as the growing recognition of the importance of education for success on the job market. Structural factors were undoubtedly at play in Canada . However, the authors suggest that the increase in enrolment rates beyond that experienced in the United States (29 per cent of the increase in enrolment rates for teens and 36 per cent for young adults) may be interpreted as a cyclical response to weak employment opportunities in Canada. The authors find composition changes in the age structure of the population account for about one percentage point of the decline in the aggregate participation rate in Canada between 1989 and 1997, as the relative importance of low-participation rate groups has increased. Based on an analysis of the factors affecting labour force participation of the major age-sex groups, the authors forecast a rise in the aggregate participation rate in Canada from 65.1 per cent in 1998 to 66.6 per cent in 2006. For the United States, the Bureau of Labor Statistics is forecasting a smaller increase, but from a higher level, to 67.6 per cent in 2006 from 67.1 per cent in 1998. The authors expect increases in labour force participation for all age-sex groups in Canada. Between 1998 and 2006, the participation rate is forecast to rise 4.6 percentage points for older men (55 and over), 3.8 points for older women, 3.7 points for prime age women, 8.9 points for teenagers, 3.5 points for young adults, and even 1.0 points for prime-aged men. The 1.5 point increase in the aggregate participation rate is much smaller than almost all the increases in the age-sex group specific rates because of the changing age structure, in particular the increasing proportion of the population in older age groups.

Suggested Citation

  • Irene Ip & Sheryl King & Geneviève Verdier, 1999. "Structural Influences on Participation Rates: A Canada-U.S. Comparison," A Symposium on Canadian Labour Force Participation in the 1990s (Special Issue of Canadian Business Economics, Volume 7, Number 2, May 1999), in: Andrew Sharpe & Louis Grignon (ed.),A Symposium on Canadian Labour Force Participation in the 1990s (Special Issue of Canadian Business Economics, Volume 7, Number 2, May 1999), pages 25-41, Centre for the Study of Living Standards.
  • Handle: RePEc:sls:lfpcbe:03
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Mario Fortin & Pierre Fortin, 1999. "The Changing Labour Force Participation of Canadians, 1969-96: Evidence from a Panel of Six Demographic Groups," A Symposium on Canadian Labour Force Participation in the 1990s (Special Issue of Canadian Business Economics, Volume 7, Number 2, May 1999), in: Andrew Sharpe & Louis Grignon (ed.),A Symposium on Canadian Labour Force Participation in the 1990s (Special Issue of Canadian Business Economics, Volume 7, Number 2, May 1999), pages 12-24, Centre for the Study of Living Standards.
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    3. Jonathan Gruber, 1999. "Social Security and Retirement in Canada," NBER Chapters, in: Social Security and Retirement around the World, pages 73-99, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Paul Beaudry & David A. Green, 2000. "Cohort patterns in Canadian earnings: assessing the role of skill premia in inequality trends," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 33(4), pages 907-936, November.
    5. Brian Motley, 1996. "Recent developments in labor force participation," FRBSF Economic Letter, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, issue may24.
    6. Paul Beaudry & Thomas Lemieux, 1999. "Evolution of the Female Labour Force Participation Rate in Canada, 1976-1994," CIRANO Project Reports 1999rp-02, CIRANO.
    7. Peter Diamond & Jonathan Gruber, 1997. "Social Security and Retirement in the U.S," NBER Working Papers 6097, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Paul Beaudry & Thomas Lemieux, 1999. "Evolution of the Female Labour Force Participation Rate in Canada, 1976-1994: a Cohort Analysis," A Symposium on Canadian Labour Force Participation in the 1990s (Special Issue of Canadian Business Economics, Volume 7, Number 2, May 1999), in: Andrew Sharpe & Louis Grignon (ed.),A Symposium on Canadian Labour Force Participation in the 1990s (Special Issue of Canadian Business Economics, Volume 7, Number 2, May 1999), pages 57-70, Centre for the Study of Living Standards.
    9. David Card & Craig Riddell, 1996. "Unemployment in Canada and the United States: A Further Analysis," Working Papers 731, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section..
    10. David Card & W. Craig Riddell, 1996. "Unemployment in Canada and the United States: A Further Analysis," Working Papers 731, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section..
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    Cited by:

    1. C Freedman, 2001. "Inflation Targeting And The Economy: Lessons From Canada'S First Decade," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 19(1), pages 2-19, January.
    2. Paul Jenkins & Brian O'Reilly, 2001. "Monetary Policy and the Economic Well-being of Canadians," The Review of Economic Performance and Social Progress, in: Andrew Sharpe, Executive Director & France St-Hilaire, Vice-President , Research & Keith Banting, Di (ed.), The Review of Economic Performance and Social Progress 2001: The Longest Decade: Canada in the 1990s, volume 1, Centre for the Study of Living Standards;The Institutute for Research on Public Policy.
    3. Veronique Genre & Ramon Gomez Salvador & Ana Lamo, 2010. "European women: why do(n't) they work?," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 42(12), pages 1499-1514.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Canada; United States; Labour Force Participation; Labor Force Participation; Participation Rate; Labour Force Participation Rate; Labor Force Participation Rate; Age Structure; Age; Sex; Gender; Aging; Ageing;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J21 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • O51 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - U.S.; Canada
    • O57 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Comparative Studies of Countries

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