Almost 82 per cent of women in their prime working years had jobs in November, the most on record, suggesting the combination of a tight labour market and Prime Minister Justin
Trudeau‘s subsidized daycare plan have combined to close longstanding gender gaps.
For women aged 25 to 54, defined by economists as the “core” working demographic, the employment rate reached 81.6 per cent last month, the highest since collection of these
data began in 1976. November’s number beat the record set in May of 81.4 per cent, Statistics Canada reported on Dec. 2.
The country’s labour market is drum-tight, with the unemployment rate dropping to 5.1 per cent, while job vacancies numbered close to one million in September. In other words, the
jobless rate sits within conventional definitions of full employment, meaning there’s enough jobs for anyone who wants one, yet employers’ demand for workers has shown little sign
of letting up.
When the labour market is tight, companies can either invest in automation or hire applicants that might not have made the cut in a more balanced hiring market, said Charles St-Arnaud,
chief economist at Alberta Central. Women likely benefitted from employers scrambling to hire, as desperate managers were forced to consider applicants with relatively less experience,
or who needed flexible schedules. Both conditions often apply to women, who tend to shoulder most of the parenting responsibilities, and therefore tend to put their careers on hold to
take care of their families.
But government policy has played a role in getting women back in the workforce, too, especially when it comes to child care, St-Arnaud said. “Women feel more confident going back into
the workforce because they won’t be spending their whole paycheque on child care,” he said.
Part of the motivation for Ottawa’s overhaul of the national child care system last year was to boost employment rates. In the 2021 budget, the Finance Department observed that Quebec’s
subsidized daycare initiative from two decades ago allowed more women to join the labour force, partially offsetting the effects of an aging population. Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland
signed up all provincial and territorial governments with a pledge to cut daycare fees in half by the end of this year and ultimately bring down fees to an average of $10 a day within five years.
