Economic and Social Reports, November 2022

Released: 2022-11-23

The November 2022 issue of Economic and Social Reports, which contains three articles, is now available.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, fewer Canadian youth had low life satisfaction compared with other countries

The proportion of Canadian youth experiencing low life satisfaction increased during the pandemic years, but at a much lower rate than it did among youth in other countries. The article "Youth life satisfaction during the COVID-19 pandemic in a cross-national comparison" found that, from 2018 to 2021, the proportion of low life satisfaction increased from 1.4% to 2.3% for youth aged 15 to 30 in Canada. In comparison, it tripled among the same age group in the United Kingdom, from 6.1% to 18.6%, and for those in Ireland, from 2.7% to 25.4%. In contrast, the proportion of youth in Germany with low life satisfaction in 2021 (8.7%) was similar to that in 2018 (9.0%).

Across these countries, there is no evidence that experience of low life satisfaction among youth had recovered by 2021 from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Unionization rate in Canada down by 9 percentage points since 1981

The percentage of employees who are union members fell from 38% in 1981 to 29% in 2022, a drop of 9 percentage points. The article "Unionization in Canada, 1981 to 2022" found that two-thirds of the decline took place from 1981 to 1997 and the remaining third, from 1997 to 2022. However, not all groups of workers experienced a decline in unionization. Unionization rates fell by 16 percentage points among men but remained stable among women.

The decline in unionization observed among men was partly driven by employment shifts away from manufacturing, a sector with traditionally high unionization rates.

As unionized jobs tend to pay relatively high wages and be covered by registered pension plans (RPPs) more often than other jobs, these diverging trends in unionization likely affected the Canadian wage structure and the RPP coverage of various segments of the workforce.

Short post-secondary programs after job loss associated with higher earnings

One way to cope with job loss is to go back to school before returning to the labour market, but with financial responsibilities, displaced workers may have little time to devote to re-investing in themselves.

The article "Does taking short postsecondary programs or independent credits benefit recently displaced workers?" shows that pursuing short postsecondary programs after job loss can potentially lead to increased average annual earnings. Read more in the Daily release entitled ''Study: Does taking short postsecondary programs or independent credits benefit recently displaced workers?''

Products

The November 2022 issue of Economic and Social Reports, Vol. 2, no. 11 (Catalogue number36280001) is now available. This issue contains the articles "Unionization in Canada, 1981 to 2022," "Youth life satisfaction during the COVID-19 pandemic in a cross-national comparison," and "Does taking short postsecondary programs or independent credits benefit recently displaced workers?"

Contact information

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