Canadian Megatrends
Canadian Megatrends explores some of the sweeping changes that have had a lasting impact on Canadian society and economy.
Canadian youth and full-time work: A slower transition
Families across the country often discuss the job prospects of young people and how these prospects have changed since the days of their parents and grandparents. These conversations can be full of anecdotes and questions about generations past. How have the employment opportunities of young women changed since Canada's Centennial in 1967? Can a young man still follow in his father's footsteps and get a full-time job out of school? Can young people expect to make more than their parents did when they were young? This month's edition of Canadian Megatrends takes a more empirical approach to some of these questions, looking at labour force participation, unemployment, full-time and part-time work, and real wages for workers in Canada from 1946 to 2015. The transitions to the labour force have slowed as young people spend more time in school or training, and then enter a workforce that has changed significantly over seven decades.