Job Market Monitor
Michel Cournoyer
Education in Canada – 6.4% of GDP compared with the OECD average of 5.3% (2011)
The proportion of adults aged 25 to 64 who had completed high school was higher in Canada than in all but four of the reporting members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). In 2014, 90% of Canadians aged 25 to 64 had completed at least high school, well above the OECD average of 76%. Conversely, the Czech Republic (93%), Estonia (91%), the Slovak … Continue reading
Measuring Inequality – Spending inequality is dramatically smaller than wealth inequality
In a just-released study, we provide the first picture of actual U.S. inequality. We account for inequality in labor earnings and wealth, as Thomas Piketty and many others do. And we get to the bottom line: what does inequality in spending look like after accounting for government taxes and benefits? Our findings dramatically alter the … Continue reading
Immigration and the Skills Gap – Australia vs US
Nearly seven out of 10 immigrants here [Australia] are accepted based on being able to do jobs in fields such as engineering that the government and employers say there aren’t enough domestic workers to fill. In the United States—where technology companies in particular are sounding warnings about a similar skills gap they say is contributing … Continue reading
Automatic stabilizers in US – A major tool the government uses to respond to recession (video)
Automatic stabilizers—mechanisms built into the federal budget that increase spending or decrease taxes when the economy slows without any vote from Congress– are a major tool the government uses to respond to recession. For instance, spending on unemployment compensation automatically increases when there are more people out of work. During the Great Recession, automatic stabilizers … Continue reading
Minimum Wages in US – Wages for low-wage workers rose faster in states that increased it
In 2015, wages for low-wage workers rose faster in states that increased their minimum wage than in states that saw no minimum wage increase. Working people in states that increased the minimum wage through legislation—which led to larger increases than indexed increases—saw the biggest boost to their wages, regardless of gender. Women, however, benefited slightly … Continue reading
Why Millennial Women Leave Their Job – Three surprising findings
There were three surprising findings that emerged from our ICEDR survey of organizational leaders and men and women age 22-35. Surprise #1: Women around age 30 rank pay, lack of learning and development, and a shortage of meaningful work as the primary reasons why they leave organizations. When considering the main reasons why women around age 30 leave … Continue reading
Gender Gap in US – Pay drops as women take over a male-dominated field
A new study from researchers at Cornell University found that the difference between the occupations and industries in which men and women work has recently become the single largest cause of the gender pay gap, accounting for more than half of it. In fact, another study shows, when women enter fields in greater numbers, pay … Continue reading
Financially Prepared for retirement in Canada – 78% of labour force aged 25 to 64 were, down from 81% in 2009
Using data from the 2014 Canadian Financial Capability Survey (CFCS), this article examines the extent to which individuals in the labour force are preparing for retirement and provides another perspective on the relationship between financial literacy and retirement planning. In 2014, 78% of labour market participants (employed or unemployed) aged 25 to 64 reported they … Continue reading
Old Age Social Security in Canada – Life expectancy at age 65 projected to increase from 21 to 24 years for men and from 23 to 26 years for women by 2075
The population of Canada is projected to age significantly over the coming decades. Increasing life expectancies, the aging of the baby boomers, and low fertility rates are the predominant factors that will contribute to the increase in the proportion of the elderly. As a result, the population at ages 65 and over is expected to increase … Continue reading
Lifelong Learning in US – Competition is coming from every direction
Those who aren’t trying to improve will get passed by. One compelling motivation for some is to stay nimble and keep learning in order to increase their worth for employers and in their own eyes: You don’t want to stagnate in your learning and your position. My thinking is you have to have a hunger … Continue reading
Welfare, Universal Credit and Wages in UK – Minimum wage not as effective as transfer payments at alleviating income poverty
Duncan Smith’s resignation letter (a former British Cabinet Minister) laid this divide bare: “There has been too much emphasis on money saving exercises and not enough awareness from the Treasury, in particular, that the government’s vision of a new welfare-to-work system could not be repeatedly salami-sliced.” In typically dramatic fashion, last year Osborne jacked up … Continue reading
Children of Refugees in US – They fare better than children of other immigrants research finds
There are reasons to believe that refugees’ children may be particularly vulnerable to poor developmental and academic outcomes, given that their parents—and possibly the children themselves—fled violence and persecution, often arriving in the United States with little to no economic resources, social networks, or understanding of the country’s language and culture. For these reasons, one … Continue reading
Older Workers in Europe – A significantly larger increase in employment than the one observed for the general population (1997‐2011)
European welfare states are under stress: demographic and social changes are leading to increasing demands in terms of expenditures at a time when the population in working age is shrinking. In the face of this observation, academic economists have been promoting the idea of increasing the employment rate of the elderly as one key policy … Continue reading
From Low Pay to Higher Pay in UK – People who are on low pay more likely to be in employment in the future than the unemployed or not in the labour force
There is a sizable body of literature examining low paid employment with a focus on state- dependence of low pay – that is, whether and to what extent current low paid employment increases the probability of remaining in low pay in the future. The interest in state-dependence of low pay arises from a concern that … Continue reading
Aging – The picture looks a lot brighter using a series of new measures
The populations of most countries of the world are aging, prompting a deluge of news stories about slower economic growth, reduced labor force participation, looming pension crises, exploding health care costs and the reduced productivity and cognitive functioning of the elderly. These stories are dire, in part because the most widely used measure of aging … Continue reading
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