Why Did Employment and Earnings Rise among Lone Mothers in Canada during the 1980s and 1990s?

John Myles, Feng Hou, Garnett Picot and Karen Myers

Canadian Public Policy, 2007, vol. 33, issue 2, 147-172

Abstract: Employment rates and earnings among Canadian lone mothers have improved significantly since 1980. Using microdata from the Census of Canada, we show that these changes were mainly the result of two major demographic developments: the postwar revolution in women's educational attainment, and the aging of the "baby boom" which amplified the effect of rising levels of educational attainment. Most of these gains, moreover, went to older lone mothers. While changes in the social policy environment were undoubtedly a contributing factor, their potential explanatory contribution is comparatively modest relative to these large demographic shifts. Since the demographic drivers underlying these gains are now nearing maturity, future gains from this source are likely to be modest by comparison.

Date: 2007
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cpp:issued:v:33:y:2007:i:2:p:147-172

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.utpjournals.com/loi/cpp/

Access Statistics for this article

Canadian Public Policy is currently edited by Prof. Mike Veall

More articles in Canadian Public Policy from University of Toronto Press University of Toronto Press Journals Division 5201 Dufferin Street Toronto, Ontario, Canada M3H 5T8.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Iver Chong ( this e-mail address is bad, please contact ).