IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/cir/cirwor/99s-44.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

What Is Happening in the Youth Labour Market in Canada?

Author

Listed:
  • Paul Beaudry
  • Thomas Lemieux
  • Daniel Parent

Abstract

This paper analyzes the evolution of the labour market participation rate of men and women age 15 to 24 from 1976 to 1998. The0501n question being asked is why youth participation rates fell precipitously during the 1990s? We look at two dimensions of this decline: changes in the participation rate of youth who are not attending school (non-student participation rate) and changes in the employment rate of students. We find that the decline in the non-student participation rate is a consequence of two factors: (1) the overall bad state of the labour market in Canada during the 1990s, and (2) the large increase in school enrollment rates induced by factors other than the state of the labour market. One important finding is that demographic changes (baby boom vs baby bust) is a key explanation behind the steep increase in enrollment rates during the 1980s and 1990s. The only component of youth participation rates which seems to be a problem specific to the 1990s is the sharp drop in employment rates of students age 15 to 19. Cette étude vise à analyser l'évolution du taux de participation des jeunes Canadiens âgés de 15 à 24 ans au cours de la période allant de 1976 à 1998. Plus précisément, nous cherchons à comprendre pourquoi le taux de participation des jeunes a chuté au cours des années 90. Pour ce faire, nous examinons les changements dans le taux de participation des jeunes qui ne fréquentent pas l'école ainsi que les changements dans le taux d'emploi des étudiants. Les résultats indiquent que la baisse du taux de participation des jeunes découle de deux facteurs : (1) les mauvaises conditions globales du marché du travail au Canada durant les années 90, et (2) l'augmentation substantielle de la fréquentation scolaire causée par des facteurs autres que l'effet induit par les conditions du marché du travail. Un résultat important est que les changements démographiques constituent un facteur-clé pouvant expliquer l'accroissement important des taux de fréquentation scolaire au cours des années 80 et 90. La seule composante pouvant expliquer la chute des taux de participation qui soit spécifique aux années 90 est la forte baisse des taux d'emploi des étudiants âgés de 15 à 19 ans.

Suggested Citation

  • Paul Beaudry & Thomas Lemieux & Daniel Parent, 1999. "What Is Happening in the Youth Labour Market in Canada?," CIRANO Working Papers 99s-44, CIRANO.
    • Handle: RePEc:cir:cirwor:99s-44
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://cirano.qc.ca/files/publications/99s-44.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Card, David & Krueger, Alan B, 1992. "Does School Quality Matter? Returns to Education and the Characteristics of Public Schools in the United States," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 100(1), pages 1-40, February.
    2. 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.
    3. Robert Shimer, 2001. "The Impact of Young Workers on the Aggregate Labor Market," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 116(3), pages 969-1007.
    4. David Card & Thomas Lemieux, 2000. "Adapting to Circumstances (The Evolution of Work, School,and Living Arrangements among North American Youth)," NBER Chapters, in: Youth Employment and Joblessness in Advanced Countries, pages 171-214, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Sanders Korenman & David Neumark, 2000. "Cohort Crowding and Youth Labor Markets (A Cross-National Analysis)," NBER Chapters, in: Youth Employment and Joblessness in Advanced Countries, pages 57-106, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. David Card & Thomas Lemieux, 1997. "Adapting to Circumstances: The Evolution of Work, School, and Living Arrangements Among North American Youth," Working Papers 765, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section..
    7. Christopher Neilson & Michael Dinerstein & Sebastián Otero, 2020. "The Equilibrium Effects of Public Provision in Education Markets: Evidence from a Public School Expansion Policy," Working Papers 645, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section..
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Philip Oreopoulos & Till von Wachter & Andrew Heisz, 2006. "The Short- and Long-Term Career Effects of Graduating in a Recession: Hysteresis and Heterogeneity in the Market for College Graduates," NBER Working Papers 12159, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Philip Oreopoulos & Till von Wachter & Andrew Heisz, 2012. "The Short- and Long-Term Career Effects of Graduating in a Recession," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 4(1), pages 1-29, January.
    3. Frank T. Denton & Christine H. Feaver & Byron G. Spencer, 2002. "Alternative Pasts, Possible Futures: A "What If" Study of the Effects of Fertility on the Canadian Population and Labour Force," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 28(3), pages 443-459, September.
    4. Coelli, Michael B., 2011. "Parental job loss and the education enrollment of youth," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 25-35, January.
    5. Picot, Garnett & Heisz, Andrew & Nakamura, A., 2001. "Job Tenure, Worker Mobility and the Youth Labour Market During the 1990s," Analytical Studies Branch Research Paper Series 2001155e, Statistics Canada, Analytical Studies Branch.
    6. Daniel Parent, 2006. "Work while in high school in Canada: its labour market and educational attainment effects," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 39(4), pages 1125-1150, November.
    7. Daniel Parent, 2004. "The Effect of High School Employment on Educational Attainment in Canada," Cahiers de recherche 0413, CIRPEE.
    8. Michele Campolieti & Tony Fang & Morley Gunderson, 2010. "Labour Market Outcomes and Skill Acquisition of High-School Dropouts," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 31(1), pages 39-52, March.
    9. J. C. Herbert Emery & Ana Ferrer & David Green, 2012. "Long-Term Consequences of Natural Resource Booms for Human Capital Accumulation," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 65(3), pages 708-734, July.
    10. J. Emery & Ana Ferrer, 2009. "Marriage market imbalances and labor force participation of Canadian women," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 7(1), pages 43-57, March.
    11. Daniel Parent, "undated". "La Prime Associée au Diplôme d'Études Secondaires et le Décrochage Scolaire au Canada," CIRANO Project Reports 2002rp-05, CIRANO.
    12. Michael B Coelli, 2009. "Parental Job Loss, Income Shocks and the Education Enrolment of Youth," Department of Economics - Working Papers Series 1060, The University of Melbourne.
    13. Michieka, Nyakundi M. & Gearhart, Richard S., 2018. "Resource curse? The case of Kern County," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 446-459.
    14. Daniel Parent, 1999. "Labour Market Outcomes and Schooling in Canada: Has the Value of a High School Degree Changed over Time?," CIRANO Working Papers 99s-42, CIRANO.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Philip Oreopoulos & Till von Wachter & Andrew Heisz, 2006. "The Short- and Long-Term Career Effects of Graduating in a Recession: Hysteresis and Heterogeneity in the Market for College Graduates," NBER Working Papers 12159, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. David Card & Thomas Lemieux, 2001. "Dropout and Enrollment Trends in the Postwar Period: What Went Wrong in the 1970s?," NBER Chapters, in: Risky Behavior among Youths: An Economic Analysis, pages 439-482, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Daniel Parent, "undated". "La Prime Associée au Diplôme d'Études Secondaires et le Décrochage Scolaire au Canada," CIRANO Project Reports 2002rp-05, CIRANO.
    4. Alfred Garloff & Carsten Pohl & Norbert Schanne, 2013. "Do small labor market entry cohorts reduce unemployment?," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 29(15), pages 379-406.
    5. Skans, Oskar Nordstrom, 2005. "Age effects in Swedish local labor markets," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 86(3), pages 419-426, March.
    6. Greg Kaplan, 2012. "Moving Back Home: Insurance against Labor Market Risk," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 120(3), pages 446-512.
    7. Cobb-Clark, Deborah A., 2008. "Leaving Home: What Economics Has to Say about the Living Arrangements of Young Australians," IZA Discussion Papers 3309, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    8. John M. Fitzgerald & David Ribar, 2001. "The Impact of Welfare Waivers on Female Headship Decisions," JCPR Working Papers 247, Northwestern University/University of Chicago Joint Center for Poverty Research.
    9. Dahlberg, Susanne & Nahum, Ruth-Aïda, 2003. "Cohort Effects on Earnings Profiles: Evidence from Sweden," Arbetsrapport 2003:3, Institute for Futures Studies.
    10. van Dijk, Mathijs A. & van Dalen, Hendrik P. & Hyde, Martin, 2020. "Who bears the brunt? The impact of banking crises on younger and older workers," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 17(C).
    11. Juan F. Jimeno, "undated". "Demographic change, immigration, and the labour market: A European perspective," Working Papers 2004-18, FEDEA.
    12. Garloff, Alfred & Roth, Duncan, 2016. "Regional age structure and young workers' wages," IAB-Discussion Paper 201606, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
    13. Emily E. Wiemers, 2014. "The Effect of Unemployment on Household Composition and Doubling Up," Working Papers 2014_05, University of Massachusetts Boston, Economics Department.
    14. R. Haveman & B. Knight, "undated". "Youth Living Arrangements, Economic Independence, and the Role of Labor Market Changes: A Cohort Analysis from the Early 1970s to the Late 1980s," Institute for Research on Poverty Discussion Papers 1201-99, University of Wisconsin Institute for Research on Poverty.
    15. Florentino Felgueroso & Sergi Jiménez Martín, 2009. "The "New Growth Model". How and with Whom?," Working Papers 2009-39, FEDEA.
    16. Newhouse, David & Wolff, Claudia, 2014. "Cohort size and youth employment outcomes," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6848, The World Bank.
    17. Maurizio Bovi & Massimo Mancini, 2016. "Recessions, expectations, and labor supply dynamics," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 50(2), pages 653-671, March.
    18. Ernesto Amaral & Bernardo Queiroz & Júlia Calazans, 2015. "Demographic changes, educational improvements, and earnings in Brazil and Mexico," IZA Journal of Labor & Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 4(1), pages 1-21, December.
    19. Fertig, Michael, 2003. "Educational Production, Endogenous Peer Group Formation and Class Composition - Evidence From the PISA 2000 Study," RWI Discussion Papers 2, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung.
    20. Angel de la Fuente & Antonio Ciccone, 2003. "Human capital in a global and knowledge-based economy," UFAE and IAE Working Papers 562.03, Unitat de Fonaments de l'Anàlisi Econòmica (UAB) and Institut d'Anàlisi Econòmica (CSIC).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Education; labour market; Éducation; marché du travail;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I2 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:cir:cirwor:99s-44. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Webmaster (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ciranca.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.