(Possibly) good news from StatsCan

Today Statistics Canada released a brief review of the Canadian economy in 2006 which contained some encouraging findings about women's participation in the labour force.

Unemployment among adult women was at record lows, falling for the sixth year in a row below rates of unemployment among adult men. Interestingly, the picture north of the 49th parallel is quite different than south of it:



Apparently, 2006 was the first year in which university-educated women in Canada exceeded the number of university-educated men. The report extrapolates from this statistic that there must therefore be an increased supply of skilled workers in Canada. I'm not entirely convinced that one can conclude from the figures that (more educated women) + (growth in female employment rates) = (greater number of women in professional and other skilled placements). Given what we know about women's earning power versus that of men, I think it's equally as likely that many more women, facing economic crisis, are taking on work that is part-time, underpaid, and in positions not necessarily reflective of their career training. Regardless, the increasing number of women employed in Canada is a promising trend.

Earlier this month StatsCan had reported that employment growth for women in the twelve months between March 2006 and 2007 was nearly double that of men. On its face, greater participation by women in the workforce would appear to be a positive development. However, I'm concerned with the overrepresentation of senior women in this statistical picture. As it turns out, "[w]omen aged 55 and over attained a record high employment rate of 25.8% in March. While the employment rate for women aged 25 to 54 has been increasing for several decades, the upward trend in the employment rate for older women began in 1997."

This seems to me to suggest that more women, upon reaching what would normally be retirement age, continue to work. Whether this is by choice or out of financial necessity is not, of course, represented by the sort of raw data StatsCan deals in. Poverty among elderly women is a particular problem in Canada, because of higher average female life expectancy and the fact that women often lack sufficient pensions or other financial support in their golden years.

Overall, the economic situation for women, at least as regards employment, appears to be improving, and I hope the trends seen in 2006 continue apace.