Youth in Transition Survey: Update of the education and labour market pathways of young adults

2004

More and more youth have undertaken postsecondary education, either at college, university or a private institution, and have taken their place in the labour market, according to a four-year study of major transitions in the lives of Canada's young people.

The Youth in Transition Survey (YITS), which tracked movements between high school, postsecondary education and the labour market, interviewed young people and measured their activities at three stages: in 1999, 2001 and 2003.

Survey data show that during this four-year period, nearly three-quarters of the young people in this study underwent some form of transition, either between high school and postsecondary education or between their studies and the workplace.

However, a more meaningful finding concerns the steadily rising proportion of young people aged 22 to 24 who undertook some form of postsecondary education since the start of the survey. In 1999, 62% of young people had gone to a postsecondary institution at some point. By 2003, over three-quarters (76%) had done so.

Over time, the proportion of youth who had graduated from a postsecondary institution soared. In 1999, 7% of young people were postsecondary graduates. By 2003, this proportion had increased more than six times to 44%.

As of December 2003, about one out of every five young people aged 22 to 24 was still pursuing postsecondary accreditation and had not yet graduated.

The movement towards postsecondary education is important, as globalization and technological changes have led to a knowledge-based economy with highly skilled occupations. The labour market is increasingly demanding, and a postsecondary education is in many instances essential to gain access to the workforce.

Leaving school to take their place in the labour market

Canada's young people were leaving school to take their place in the workforce between 1999 and 2003, YITS data showed.

They did this through a complex set of pathways. Some dropped out of school and subsequently returned to their studies. Others were high school dropouts who went on to postsecondary studies without having completed their high school diploma.

These transitions may have enabled young people to finish their education and enter the labour market, or to leave the labour market and return to school. However, the most common transition was to complete school—either secondary or postsecondary—to go to full-time work.

During this four-year period, the composition of this group of young people gradually changed.

In 1999, 46% were pursuing postsecondary education, 13% were still in high school, 21% were working full-time and 12% part-time, whereas 9% were not in school and were not working.

Four years later, it was apparent that fewer of this group were in school. The proportion pursuing postsecondary education had declined to 31%, and only 1% were still in high school. Meanwhile, the proportion working full-time had more than doubled to 45%, while only 9% were part-timers.

About 14% were neither working nor in school as of December 2003, but for most of these individuals, it seems that the situation was temporary. Less than 1% of young people were neither working nor in school for all three cycles of the YITS.

More difficult to return to school as young people get older and have children

The realities of family life and work are apparently starting to encroach on the ability of these young people to pursue postsecondary studies, according to the survey. Some of them had married and some had children, and the longer these young people waited, the more difficult it generally became to return to school. Time appears to be becoming an issue.

People who continued in postsecondary education were less likely to be married than graduates or dropouts. Among the individuals who had children, the proportion who had never undertaken postsecondary education was much higher than the average, while the proportion that had participated in postsecondary education was lower.

During the first two stages, many young people reported that they had not pursued any form of postsecondary education. However, by December 2003, some (5%) had had a change of heart.

However, returning to school seems to have been more difficult for young people as they got older. Among young adults aged 22, about 8% started their postsecondary studies in cycle 3. However, this proportion fell to 5% among those aged 23, and to only 3% for those aged 24.

Many who started their postsecondary studies in cycle 3 reported to the survey that they continued working either full-time or part-time, or had returned to a non-traditional institution, that is, not a college or university.

It should be noted that of all young people who had pursued postsecondary education at the start of the study in 1999, about 69% had graduated, and nearly 17% of them were still in school. Only 14% had dropped out. The majority of graduates were in the labour market, most working full-time.

Vast majority had graduated from high school by December 2003

The proportion of young people who had graduated from high school increased steadily during the four-year study period.

In 1999, three-quarters (75%) of all young people aged 18 to 20 had their high school diploma in hand. By the end of 2003, this had increased to almost 90%.

What was also notable was that nearly half of these high school dropouts took advantage of the "second chance system" to return to school at either the secondary or postsecondary level.

As a result, over one-quarter of high school dropouts finally managed to graduate during this period. As of December 2001, about 8% of these dropouts had graduated from high school. By the end of 2003, this proportion had more than tripled to 27%.

Data revealed that about half of these new high school graduates had even undertaken postsecondary studies. In total, one-quarter of the high school dropouts had undertaken postsecondary education as of December 2003.

However, youth had more difficulties completing high school as time went on. Between 1999 and 2001, about 70% of young people who were attending high school graduated during this time. However, between 2001 and 2003, this proportion fell to just over 40%.

In addition, a larger proportion of them dropped out over time. Between 1999 and 2001, 17% of young people attending high school dropped out. This rose to 45% between 2001 and 2003.

Between 1999 and 2003, the proportion of women who had dropped out and then returned to school more than tripled. Among men, however, the proportion did not change much over the four year period.

This difference in male-female distribution may be related to the initial reasons for dropping out. In a larger proportion, young men wanted to work, whereas women had dropped out for family reasons.

Definitions, data sources and methods: survey number 4435.

The report "Follow-up on Education and Labour Market Pathways of Young Canadians Aged 18 to 20 – Results from YITS Cycle 3" (81-595-MIE2006045, free) is part of the Culture, Tourism and the Centre for Education Statistics - Research Papers series, now available on our website from the Our products and services page.

For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact Client Services (1-800-307-3382; 613-951-7608; fax: 613-951-9040; educationstats@statcan.gc.ca), Culture, Tourism and the Centre for Education Statistics.