Study: Closing the gap? Assessing the labour market outcomes of mothers in one-parent families with young children

Released: 2024-09-11

Over the past 25 years, mothers of children aged 5 or younger have made significant gains in the labour market, with their employment rates increasing from 62% in 1997 to 73% in 2023.

Not only have the overall employment rates increased, but the gap among mothers of young children has narrowed between those in a couple (married or common-law) and those in one-parent families. Once lower than mothers in a couple, the employment rate of mothers in one-parent families who had been previously married is now on par with their coupled peers in 2023.

Still, mothers in one-parent families who never married were less likely to be employed, despite double-digit increases in their employment rate since the late 1990s. In 2023, their employment rate stood at 61%, up from 41% in 1997.

A new study released today, "Closing the gap? Assessing the labour market outcomes of unpartnered mothers in Canada" uses the Labour Force Survey to take a deep dive into the patterns of employment among mothers in Canada. It examines differences by marital status, socio-demographic characteristics, as well as job characteristics between partnered and unpartnered mothers, with further breakdowns for unpartnered mothers who had never been married and those who were previously married.

Full-time employment is the main driver of increase in employment among mothers of young children

Employment gains among mothers of young children have been driven by an increase in full-time employment. This was true for all mothers of young children, whether they were living in a couple (married or common-law) or a one-parent family. Indeed, full-time employment was the most common type of employment among all employed mothers, regardless of their marital status. Overall, 82% of employed mothers were working full-time, while 18% had part-time hours in 2023.

This rise in full-time employment among mothers of young children is linked to larger Canadian socio-demographic shifts, such as higher levels of educational attainment among mothers and the delayed age of having children. These general trends are seen for all mothers of young children, though differences in education and age continued to explain the persistent employment gaps between mothers in a couple and unpartnered never-married mothers. More specifically, education and age accounted for 61% of the employment gap between mothers in a couple and never-married mothers in 2023.

At the same time, compared with the 1990s, never-married mothers were older and more educated in 2023, with their employment rates nearing those of other mothers with young children. In 1997, there was a 24-percentage point difference in employment rates between never-married mothers and mothers in a couple. This gap shrank to 13 percentage points by 2023.

Employment gap among mothers is highest in central Canada

In 2023, the employment gap between mothers in a couple and those in a one-parent family varied across Canada. For instance, the gap in employment rates between never-married mothers and mothers in a couple was greatest in central Canada (Manitoba and Saskatchewan) (25 percentage points), the Atlantic region (18 percentage points), and Ontario (15 percentage points).

Over time, Quebec has had the largest gains in employment for mothers in one-parent families. From 1997 to 2023, employment for mothers in one-parent families increased by 31 percentage points in Quebec, coinciding with the introduction of low-cost daycare in that province.

While it is too soon to identify any shifts resulting from the implementation of the Canada-wide early learning and childcare system, which was launched in 2021, it is possible that patterns in labour market participation among mothers will evolve as access to affordable childcare increases across the country.

Employment rates are highest among partnered mothers who were born in Canada

Indigenous and immigrant mothers experience the Canadian labour market differently than non-Indigenous mothers born in Canada (i.e. Canadian-born). In general, they are less likely to be employed than Canadian-born mothers in a couple, a dynamic which was seen across all partnership types. For instance, in 2023, among partnered mothers, employment rates were highest for Canadian-born mothers (82%), followed by immigrants who became permanent residents as children (71%), Indigenous mothers (68%), and adult immigrants, who became permanent residents after the age of 18 (58%).

Along with these differences, there are unique differences within each group. For example, unlike the overall finding, the employment rate of adult immigrant never-married mothers (74%) was much higher than the rate for adult immigrant mothers who were living in a couple (58%) in 2023.

Wage gap between partnered and unpartnered mothers changed little from 1997 to 2023

Despite the similarity in the number of hours worked among employed mothers, there were wage disparities between mothers in a couple and those in a one-parent family. In 2023, the average hourly wages for mothers in a one-parent family were 19% lower than for mothers in a couple, with virtually no change since 1997. In both 1997 and 2023, the wage gap, relative to mothers in a couple, was larger among never-married mothers than previously-married mothers.

Differences in the demographic characteristics of never-married mothers and mothers in a couple helped explain close to one-third of the wage gap in 2023. For example, educational attainment accounted for 18% of the gap, reflecting the finding that mothers in a couple are more likely than never-married mothers to hold a bachelor's degree. The younger age of never-married mothers accounted for 11% of the wage gap.

Tied to these socio-demographic differences, job characteristics explained close to half of the wage gap between never-married mothers and mothers in a couple in 2023, with occupation (36%) being the leading contributor to the gap, followed by industry of employment (11%). Notably, never-married mothers were overrepresented in lower-wage occupations, such as sales and service (30%), compared with mothers in a couple (17%), and less likely to work in higher-paying professional positions (16% versus 37%).

Somewhat similar patterns were seen for previously-married mothers, as differences in demographic characteristics, such as educational attainment, as well as job characteristics, notably the types of occupations, explained much of the wage gap.

Products

The article titled "Closing the gap? Assessing the labour market outcomes of unpartnered mothers in Canada" is now available in Insights on Canadian Society (Catalogue number75-006-X).

The infographic titled "Trends in employment and hourly earnings of mothers of young children, 1997 to 2023" is now available in the series Statistics Canada - Infographics (Catalogue number11-627-M).

Contact information

For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@statcan.gc.ca).