Education-to-Labour Market Pathways of Canadian Youth: Findings from the Youth in Transition Survey - ARCHIVED

This study 'maps' the various pathways that young people have taken from high school through to regular participation in the labour market. It links this transition to important background characteristics, in addition to highlighting the pathways that lead to successful transitions to employment.

The study uses data from the Youth in Transition Survey (YITS) for 2004. YITS is a longitudinal survey that first collected data from two age groups of youth in the first cycle of the survey in 2000. One group began its participation at age 15 (Cohort A) and the other at ages 18 to 20 (Cohort B); the focus of the analysis is on the second group. Both cohorts were asked to provide a range of information on their education and employment experiences as well as information on their personal characteristics including, for example, their educational aspirations.

The first follow-up interview with the YITS participants took place in early 2002 when youth were interviewed for a second time. At that time, Cohort B participants were between the ages of 20 to 22. The second follow-up interview took place in 2004, for the reference period December 2003, when Cohort B participants were ages 22 to 24.

This report builds on the basic pathway descriptions of non-students in December 2003 by first determining the major factors that help predict who follows which path. Following this, we turn our attention to studying how these pathways relate to 'success' in the labour market. Specifically, the report is organized as follows:

Chapter 2 analyzes how background factors predict which school-to-labour market path young adults aged 22 to 24 passed through by December 2003; these background factors are for the most part static categories that do not change (for example, sex, age, ethnicity, parental education, etc.).

Chapter 3 introduces various 'intervening' factors measured during high school (for example, grade-point average, working in high school, etc.). These factors are thought to be important for possibly mediating the effect of the prior background measures on predicting the school-to-work transitions.

Chapter 4 shifts the focus of the analysis from looking at predictors of the school-to-work pathways to using the pathways as an indicator of labour market outcomes. In this chapter, we are able to determine whether certain paths are more or less successful for employment, as well as landing respondents 'good' jobs, defined in terms of earnings and level of job satisfaction. We are also able to determine in which occupation they worked during December 2003.

Chapter 5, the concluding chapter, synthesizes the findings and analysis.