Full-time Employment, 1976 to 2014

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by René Morissette, Feng Hou, and Grant Schellenberg
Social Analysis and Modelling Division

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Introduction

Full-time employment is an important labour market indicator from the perspective of both labour supply and demand. On the supply side, full-time jobs are the main channel through which working-age Canadians generate income and are a key determinant of financial well-being. Full-time employment also reveals information about the success of some groups in the labour market. For groups who have a strong attachment to the labour market, the proportion employed full time, along with the unemployment rate, is an important dimension along which success can be gauged. On the demand side, the creation of full-time jobs is one indicator of economic performance, with commentators often drawing attention to the share of employment growth accounted for by full-time jobs.

The full-time employment rate is defined as the share of the total population aged 17 to 64 employed at least 30 hours per week in their main job (i.e., the job involving the greatest numbers of weekly hours).^{Note 2} It may have changed over the last few decades for various reasons. For example, employers’ propensity to offer full-time jobs may have increased or decreased in response to changing economic conditions and the competitive environments in which they operate. Evolving preferences and attitudes, such as the desire to balance work and family, may have increased preferences for part-time employment, while evolving transitions over the life course, such as school-to-work transitions or retirement, may have affected full-time employment rates within age groups.

The trends

In aggregate, the percentage of people employed full time has increased slightly since the mid-1970s. Of all individuals aged 17 to 64 who were not attending school full time, 66% were employed full time as employees or self-employed workers in 2014, up from 62% in 1976 (Table 1).^{Note 3} The full-time employment rate reached a high of 68% in 2007, prior to the last recession, following a secular increase in the percentage of women holding full-time jobs (Chart 1).

Table 1
Percentage of population employed full time in their main job, by sex,
1976 to 2014
Table summary
This table displays the results of Percentage of population employed full time in their main job Percentage of population aged 17 to 64 employed full time as, Percentage of population aged 25 to 54 employed full time as, Employees and Employees or self-employed, calculated using percent units of measure (appearing as column headers).

	Percentage of population aged 17 to 64 employed full time as		Percentage of population aged 25 to 54 employed full time as
	Employees	Employees or self-employed	Employees	Employees or self-employed
	percent
Both sexes
1976	55.1	62.1	55.7	64.0
1981	56.3	63.6	57.7	66.6
1989	56.8	65.4	60.6	70.4
1992	52.3	61.0	57.0	66.8
1995	52.6	61.7	57.7	67.9
1997	52.2	62.1	57.2	68.3
2007	57.6	67.6	63.3	74.3
2014	56.8	65.8	63.4	73.1
Men
1976	72.8	84.4	76.2	89.8
1981	71.0	82.9	74.2	88.5
1989	67.1	80.2	71.4	86.2
1992	59.9	73.0	65.2	79.8
1995	60.6	74.0	66.1	80.9
1997	60.1	74.6	65.3	81.3
2007	62.8	76.9	68.4	83.8
2014	61.6	74.2	68.4	82.0
Women
1976	37.7	40.2	35.2	38.0
1981	41.7	44.4	41.0	44.5
1989	46.6	50.6	49.7	54.6
1992	44.7	49.0	48.9	53.8
1997	44.2	49.6	49.2	55.4
2007	52.4	58.2	58.2	64.7
2014	52.0	57.4	58.4	64.2
Note: The population consists of individuals aged 17 to 64 who are not full-time students. Full-time employment is defined as working usually 30 hours or more per week. The main job is the job with the greatest number of weekly work hours. Source: Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey, 1976 to 2014.

Indeed, the overall increase observed since the mid-1970s masks divergent trends among men and women. The proportion of men working full time fell by 10 percentage points from 1976 to 2014. Virtually all this decline occurred between the mid-1970s and the early 1990s, with the rate remaining around 75% since then (Chart 1). In contrast, the full-time employment rate of women increased by 17 percentage points over the 1976-to-2014 period, rising from 40% to 57%.

Description for chart 1

These aggregate trends also conceal important differences across age groups. In particular, large declines in full-time employment have been observed among youth (again excluding full-time students). From 1976 to 2014, the full-time employment rate declined by about 18 percentage points among men aged 17 to 24 and by about 11 percentage points among women in that age group (Table 2).^{Note 4} A substantial portion of these declines occurred between 2007 and 2014 (Chart 2). A similar pattern was evident among men aged 25 to 29, with the full-time employment rate declining by 10 percentage points from 1976 to 2014. About two-fifths of that decline occurred between 2007 and 2014. The full-time employment rate of women aged 25 to 29 also declined in recent years, offsetting some of the gains observed earlier.^{Note 5}

Table 2
Percentage of population employed full time in their main job, by age group and sex, 1976 to 2014
Table summary
This table displays the results of Percentage of population employed full time in their main job Percentage of men employed full time as, Percentage of women employed full time as, Employees and Employees or self-employed, calculated using percent units of measure (appearing as column headers).

	Percentage of men employed full time as		Percentage of women employed full time as
	Employees	Employees or self-employed	Employees	Employees or self-employed
	percent
Population aged 17 to 24
1976	73.0	76.8	57.2	58.7
1997	58.7	62.3	43.7	45.6
2007	64.8	67.6	53.6	54.9
2014	56.8	59.1	47.1	48.0
1976 to 2014	-16.2	-17.7	-10.2	-10.7
Population aged 25 to 29
1976	81.2	89.1	42.5	44.3
1997	70.5	79.4	55.6	59.1
2007	74.1	82.8	64.7	68.3
2014	71.2	78.8	61.4	64.9
1976 to 2014	-10.1	-10.2	18.9	20.6
Population aged 30 to 54
1976	74.7	90.0	33.0	36.1
1997	64.4	81.6	48.1	54.7
2007	67.5	84.0	57.1	64.1
2014	67.9	82.6	57.8	64.1
1976 to 2014	-6.8	-7.5	24.8	28.0
Population aged 55 to 64
1976	56.8	70.2	20.3	22.8
1997	34.3	49.6	18.9	23.1
2007	40.8	56.9	30.8	36.3
2014	43.1	58.3	34.8	40.8
1976 to 2014	-13.6	-11.9	14.5	18.1
Note: The population consists of individuals who are not full-time students. Full-time employment is defined as working usually 30 hours or more per week. The main job is the job with the greatest number of weekly work hours. Source: Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey, 1976 to 2014.

Description for chart 2

In addition to declines among youth, the full-time employment rate fell among men in their ‘prime’ working years, with an 8-percentage-point drop observed among men aged 30 to 54. As was the case for younger men, the rate fell substantially between the mid-1970s and the early 1990s (Chart 3). An even larger decline was observed among men aged 55 to 64, at least until the mid-1990s.^{Note 6} Among women aged 25 or older, substantial increases in the full-time employment rate were observed.

Description for chart 3

Quite clearly, the shares of youth and of men engaged in full-time employment fell since the mid-1970s. While one might view the declines among younger and older male workers as consequences of changing life course or retirement transitions, it is not obvious what might account for the decline among men aged 30 to 54 (Chart 3).

Decomposing the trends: an accounting exercise

One way to shed light on this issue is to decompose changes in full-time employment rates into three components. In an accounting sense, the percentage of men employed full time may have dropped because proportionately: (a) fewer of them were participating in the labour market, i.e., were employed or actively looking for work; (b) fewer of those participating in the labour market were employed; and/or (c) more of those employed worked part time. In other words, men’s full-time employment rate may have fallen because of a decline in their labour market participation rate, an increase in their unemployment rate, or an increase in the incidence of part-time employment.^{Note 7}

Table 3 quantifies the contribution of these three components. It shows that almost 40% of the decline in the full-time employment rate of men aged 30 to 54 observed from 1976 to 2014 was due to a decline in their labour force participation^{Note 8} while 41% was due to an increase in the relative importance of part-time employment. The remaining portion (almost 20%) was due, in an accounting sense, to increases in unemployment. Qualitatively similar findings hold for men aged 25 to 29 and 55 to 64.

Table 3
Accounting for changes in full-time employment rates from 1976 to 2014
Table summary
This table displays the results of Accounting for changes in full-time employment rates from 1976 to 2014 1976 to 2014, 1976 to 1997, 1997 to 2014, Men and Women, calculated using percent units of measure (appearing as column headers).

	1976 to 2014		1976 to 1997		1997 to 2014
	Men	Women	Men	Women	Men	Women
	percent
Individuals aged 17 to 24
Percentage change in full-time employment rate	-23.1	-18.2	-18.9	-22.2	-5.1	5.2
Proportion due to changes in:
Participation	23.8	-58.1	15.0	-30.0	58.6	81.6
Unemployment	3.7	-3.3	14.0	13.8	-37.4	81.8
Part-time employment	72.5	161.3	71.0	116.2	78.8	-63.4
Total	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Individuals aged 25 to 29
Percentage change in full-time employment rate	-11.5	46.5	-10.8	33.4	-0.7	9.8
Proportion due to changes in:
Participation	35.7	97.9	22.0	116.0	Note ...: not applicable	42.1
Unemployment	21.7	6.3	40.1	0.5	Note ...: not applicable	24.3
Part-time employment	42.5	-4.2	37.9	-16.5	Note ...: not applicable	33.6
Total	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	Note ...: not applicable	100.0
Individuals aged 30 to 54
Percentage change in full-time employment rate	-8.3	77.4	-9.3	51.4	1.1	17.1
Proportion due to changes in:
Participation	39.5	85.2	30.7	101.4	Note ...: not applicable	42.6
Unemployment	19.7	1.9	39.2	-3.2	Note ...: not applicable	15.4
Part-time employment	40.8	12.9	30.2	1.8	Note ...: not applicable	42.1
Total	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	Note ...: not applicable	100.0
Individuals aged 55 to 64
Percentage change in full-time employment rate	-17.0	79.3	-29.3	1.6	17.4	76.5
Proportion due to changes in:
Participation	45.5	107.0	68.9	Note ...: not applicable	96.0	82.8
Unemployment	15.4	-1.5	10.8	Note ...: not applicable	5.5	4.1
Part-time employment	39.1	-5.5	20.3	Note ...: not applicable	-1.5	13.1
Total	100.0	100.0	100.0	Note ...: not applicable	100.0	100.0
Individuals aged 17 to 64
Percentage change in full-time employment rate	-12.0	42.9	-11.6	23.5	-0.5	15.7
Proportion due to changes in:
Participation	48.5	102.1	41.4	137.3	Note ...: not applicable	51.1
Unemployment	6.7	6.2	22.7	-2.1	Note ...: not applicable	18.2
Part-time employment	44.8	-8.3	35.9	-35.2	Note ...: not applicable	30.7
Total	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	Note ...: not applicable	100.0
... not applicable Note: Changes in full-time employment rates for individuals who are not full-time students. Full-time employment rates equal the percentage of individuals usually working 30 hours or more per week as employees or self-employed workers in their main job. The main job is the job with the greatest number of weekly hours of work. Sources of change may not add to 100.0 because of rounding. Source: Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey, 1976 and 2014.

In contrast, rising rates of labour force participation were the main factor behind the rise in the full-time employment rates of women aged 25 and over. Increasing labour force participation accounted for 85% of the increase in the full-time employment rate of women aged 30 to 54 observed from 1976 to 2014. The story was much the same among women aged 25 to 29 and 55 to 64.

Among youth, declines in the full-time employment rate were largely the result of the increasing incidence of part-time employment. This component contributed to almost three-quarters of the decline in full-time employment among men aged 17 to 24 and for more than the entire decline observed among young women. For young women, the downward pressure that rising part-time employment exerted on their full-time employment rate more than offset the upward pressure resulting from rising labour force participation.

A separate analysis of the 1976-to-1997 period and the 1997-to-2014 period reveals interesting patterns. As Table 2 and Chart 3 showed, the full-time employment rates of men aged 25 to 29 and of men aged 30 to 54 changed very little from 1997 to 2014. The same was true for men overall.^{Note 9} Second, changes in the labour market participation of men aged 55 to 64 accounted for about two-thirds of the substantial decline in their full-time employment rate from 1976 to 1997 and almost entirely for the more modest increase in their full-time employment rate afterwards. Declines in the participation rate of men aged 17 to 24 contributed to about half of the relatively small drop in their full-time employment rate from 1997 to 2014.

Considering the entire 1976-to-2014 period, declines in participation rates and in the incidence of full-time employment were the two main factors underlying the drop in men’s full-time employment rates. Rising part-time employment drove the entire decline in the full-time employment rate of women aged 17 to 24. Because rising participation rates accounted for most of the increase in adult women’s full-time employment rates from 1976 to 2014 and has been the subject of much scholarly research,^{Note 10} the remainder of this article focuses on the declines observed among men and youth.

Compositional changes

The socio-demographic characteristics of men in Canada changed considerably since the mid-1970s. Their average age increased, potentially raising the prevalence of activity limitations and lowering labour market participation.^{Note 11} However, they also obtained higher levels of education —a trend that might have increased their likelihood of being employed full time. They also became more likely to have an employed spouse, and their distribution across provinces changed as economic activity shifted towards the oil-producing provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Newfoundland and Labrador. To estimate the extent to which such changes might have affected men’s full-time employment rates, multivariate analyses were conducted.^{Note 12} The results show that, of the 7.5-percentage-point decline in the full-time employment rate observed among men aged 30 to 54 from 1976 to 2014, 6.1 percentage points remain once changes in socio-demographic characteristics are taken into account. In other words, approximately four-fifths of the decline in the full-time employment rate of men aged 30 to 54 remain unexplained and thus, are due to factors that are not measured in the Labour Force Survey (LFS).^{Note 13}

The deterioration in labour market outcomes of immigrant men is one potential factor that may have exerted downward pressure on the full-time employment rate of men overall. This possibility cannot be assessed using the LFS because immigration status is only available on that survey since 2006. Census data from 1981 to 2006 show that the full-time employment rate of immigrant men aged 30 to 54 fell by 7 to 14 percentage points, depending on their duration of residence in Canada.^{Note 14} However, the drop in the full-time employment rate was not limited to immigrant men as census data also show that Canadian-born men in that age group experienced a 4-percentage-point decline in their full-time employment rate over that period. This decline is very similar to the 5-percentage-point drop observed among men aged 30 to 54 overall.^{Note 15} Hence, the deterioration in labour market outcomes observed among immigrant men only partly accounts for the broader decline in full-time employment.

As was the case for men aged 30 to 54, changes in socio-economic characteristics were not key factors underlying the declines in full-time employment rates of youth. All of the drop in the full-time employment rate of men aged 17 to 24 (again excluding full-time students) remains when socio-demographic characteristics are taken into account. This is also the case among women in that age group. Among men aged 25 to 29, changes in socio-demographic characteristics account for about 2 percentage points of the 10.2-percentage-point decline in the full-time employment rate—or about 20%. In sum, compositional effects were not the main drivers behind the decline in the full-time employment rates of men under 55.

Labour force participation

Whether one considers men aged 17 to 24, 25 to 29, or 30 to 54, at least two-thirds―and sometimes almost all―of the decline in labour force participation observed from 1976 to 2014 remains after controlling for the aforementioned socio-economic characteristics (excluding the self-employment indicator).^{Note 16} This suggests that other factors played an important role.

Changes in the wage structure are potentially one of these factors. From the early 1980s to 2014, real wages grew at a different pace across age groups, education levels, and regions. For instance, men aged 17 to 24 with no university degree, living in the oil-producing provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Newfoundland and Labrador and employed full time earned very similar real median hourly wages in 1981 and 2014. In contrast, their counterparts living in other provinces saw their real median hourly wages drop by 12% during that period. Since lower wages makes labour market participation relatively less attractive, one would expect groups of men who experienced the sharpest declines in median wages during the 1981-to-2014 period to display the largest decrease in participation.

This is what happened. Grouping the data by age, education level, and region shows that changes in men’s participation rates were positively correlated with changes in their real median wages during that period (Chart 4). Specifically, a 10% decline in real median hourly wages was associated with a 1-percentage-point decline in labour market participation.^{Note 17} While a thorough assessment of the degree to which changes in the wage structure reduced men’s participation requires formal econometric analyses, the evidence shown in Chart 4 suggests that such changes contributed to reducing the participation rate of some men aged under 55.

Description for chart 4

Preferences for part-time work

Changes in work-hour preferences, for instance the increased demand for part-time employment, are another potential explanation for the decline in full-time employment rates, particularly among youth, men aged 25 to 29 and men aged 30 to 54. Analyses of whether or not this is the case must take account of the fact that the questions used to define involuntary part-time work changed with the re-design of the LFS in 1997. As a result, comparable concepts of involuntary part-time work are available within two periods: 1976 to 1995 and 1997 to 2014.^{Note 18} The examination of these two periods suggests that both an increase in involuntary part-time employment and growing preferences for part-time work played a role.

The first point to note is that most of the growth―between 71% and 84%―in the incidence of part-time employment observed since the mid-1970s took place during the 1976-to-1995 period.^{Note 19} During that period, growing involuntary part-time work was a dominant factor, generally accounting for at least three-quarters of the growth in the incidence of part-time employment among youth and men aged 25 to 54. For instance, of the 13-percentage-point increase in part-time employment experienced by employed men aged 17 to 24 from 1976 to 1995, 10 percentage points―or over 75% of the increase―were due to higher involuntary part-time employment (Table 4). The corresponding numbers for employed women aged 17 to 24 are 20 percentage points and 15 percentage points, respectively. The important role played by involuntary part-time employment during that period is consistent with the fact that the Canadian labour market was fairly weak several years after the 1990-1992 recession.^{Note 20}

The story was different from 1997 to 2014. Among men under 55 and women aged 17 to 24, the entire growth in part-time employment during that period resulted from voluntary part-time work. However, part-time employment grew relatively little during that period.

Table 4
Sources of increase in part-time employment among employed workers, selected age groups
Table summary
This table displays the results of Sources of increase in part-time employment among employed workers. The information is grouped by Increase in part-time employment (appearing as row headers), Men aged, Women aged, 17 to 24, 25 to 29, 30 to 54 and 55 to 64, calculated using percentage points units of measure (appearing as column headers).

Increase in part-time employment	Men aged				Women aged
	17 to 24	25 to 29	30 to 54	55 to 64	17 to 24
	percentage points
From 1976 to 1995
Involuntary part-time employment	10.0	3.6	1.9	2.4	15.3
Voluntary part-time employment	3.2	0.7	0.7	3.5	4.2
Total	13.2	4.3	2.6	5.9	19.5
From 1997 to 2014
Involuntary part-time employment	-0.5	0.0	-0.1	0.4	-2.1
Voluntary part-time employment	3.9	0.8	0.7	-0.2	4.2
Total	3.4	0.8	0.6	0.2	2.1
Note: The concepts of involuntary and voluntary part-time employment used from 1976 to 1995 differ from those used from 1997 onwards. For this reason, numbers from the 1976-to-1995 period cannot be summed with those of the 1997-to-2014 period. Numbers are shown for women aged 17 to 24 and men aged 17 to 64, groups for which changes in the incidence of part-time employment account for a large proportion of the changes in full-time employment rates observed from 1976 to 2014. Source: Labour Force Survey, 1976, 1995, 1997 and 2014.

Regional differences

The hypothesis that changes in employment preferences have driven the decline in full-time employment among men and youth is also belied by the regional dimension of these trends. In the oil-producing provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan as well as Newfoundland and Labrador, the full-time employment rate of men aged 30 to 54 declined by 3.0 percentage points between 1976 and 2014 compared with a decline of 8.4 percentage points in other provinces (Table 5). Similarly, among men aged 25 to 29, the rate declined by 4.3 percentage points in oil-producing provinces compared with 11.7 percentage points elsewhere. Among women aged 17 to 24, the full-time employment rate fell marginally in oil-producing provinces but declined by 12.6 percentage points elsewhere. Many of these regional differences hold when the data are further disaggregated by education level (Table 6). It appears unlikely that employment preferences towards part-time work changed so dramatically along these regional lines. Instead, differences in labour demand growth across provinces likely drove much of the changes in the full-time employment rates of these groups.^{Note 21} Both in oil-producing provinces and in other provinces, declines in labour force participation rates and increases in the incidence of part-time employment accounted for at least 90% of the overall decline in men’s full-time employment rates (Table 7).

Table 5
Percentage of population employed full time in their main job (as employees or self-employed), by age group, sex and region, 1976 to 2014
Table summary
This table displays the results of Percentage of population employed full time in their main job (as employees or self-employed) Men aged, Women aged, 17 to 24, 25 to 29, 30 to 54 and 55 to 64, calculated using percent units of measure (appearing as column headers).

	Men aged				Women aged
	17 to 24	25 to 29	30 to 54	55 to 64	17 to 24	25 to 29	30 to 54	55 to 64
	percent
Oil-producing provinces
1976	81.4	89.9	90.5	71.1	58.3	39.7	34.6	23.7
2007	77.8	88.6	88.4	65.2	63.1	66.2	64.1	42.0
2014	72.5	85.6	87.5	65.9	56.6	65.8	62.6	44.5
1976 to 2014	-8.9	-4.3	-3.0	-5.3	-1.6	26.1	28.0	20.9
Other provinces
1976	75.9	88.9	90.0	70.0	58.7	45.1	36.4	22.6
2007	65.2	81.6	83.2	55.5	53.1	68.7	64.1	35.4
2014	56.2	77.2	81.5	56.9	46.1	64.7	64.4	40.2
1976 to 2014	-19.8	-11.7	-8.4	-13.1	-12.6	19.7	28.0	17.6
Note: The population consists of individuals who are not full-time students. Full-time employment is defined as working usually 30 hours or more per week. The main job is the job with the greatest number of weekly work hours. Oil-producing provinces include Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Newfoundland and Labrador. Source: Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey, 1976 to 2014.

Table 6
Percentage of population employed full time in their main job (as employees or self-employed), by age group, sex, education and region, 1976 to 2014
Table summary
This table displays the results of Percentage of population employed full time in their main job (as employees or self-employed) Men aged, Women aged, 17 to 24, 25 to 29, 30 to 54 and 55 to 64, calculated using percent units of measure (appearing as column headers).

	Men aged				Women aged
	17 to 24	25 to 29	30 to 54	55 to 64	17 to 24	25 to 29	30 to 54	55 to 64
	percent
Individuals with no university degree
Oil-producing provinces
1976	80.8	88.6	89.6	70.4	57.3	36.4	33.5	22.7
2007	77.4	87.7	87.4	64.4	61.8	61.5	62.6	41.4
2014	72.3	84.8	86.3	65.7	54.9	59.3	60.3	44.5
1976 to 2014	-8.6	-3.8	-3.4	-4.7	-2.4	22.8	26.7	21.8
Other provinces
1976	75.6	88.4	89.2	69.0	58.0	42.4	35.5	22.0
2007	64.6	80.3	81.4	53.9	51.5	64.5	61.4	33.5
2014	55.2	75.7	79.8	55.4	44.0	59.3	60.9	38.8
1976 to 2014	-20.4	-12.7	-9.4	-13.5	-13.9	16.9	25.4	16.7
All provinces
1976	76.4	88.4	89.3	69.2	57.9	41.6	35.3	22.1
2007	67.0	81.6	82.4	55.4	53.5	64.0	61.6	34.5
2014	58.3	77.5	80.9	57.1	46.0	59.3	60.8	39.6
1976 to 2014	-18.1	-10.9	-8.3	-12.1	-11.9	17.7	25.6	17.5
Individuals with a university degree
Oil-producing provinces
1976	Note F: too unreliable to be published	Note F: too unreliable to be published	97.2	Note F: too unreliable to be published	Note F: too unreliable to be published	Note F: too unreliable to be published	Note F: too unreliable to be published	Note F: too unreliable to be published
2007	Note F: too unreliable to be published	Note F: too unreliable to be published	92.0	68.4	Note F: too unreliable to be published	78.5	69.2	45.1
2014	Note F: too unreliable to be published	88.2	91.4	66.5	Note F: too unreliable to be published	77.8	68.0	44.9
1976 to 2014	Note F: too unreliable to be published	Note F: too unreliable to be published	-5.8	Note F: too unreliable to be published	Note F: too unreliable to be published	Note F: too unreliable to be published	Note F: too unreliable to be published	Note F: too unreliable to be published
Other provinces
1976	84.7	91.5	95.2	82.7	76.6	66.6	50.6	39.6
2007	75.5	86.1	88.6	60.6	65.7	77.5	71.6	44.1
2014	68.4	81.3	86.0	61.6	59.1	74.1	71.6	45.5
1976 to 2014	-16.3	-10.2	-9.2	-21.1	-17.5	7.5	21.0	6.0
All provinces
1976	86.1	92.2	95.5	82.9	76.9	66.1	50.5	40.8
2007	76.9	87.0	89.0	61.5	67.3	77.7	71.3	44.2
2014	69.5	82.5	86.8	62.3	60.7	74.8	71.1	45.4
1976 to 2014	-16.6	-9.6	-8.6	-20.6	-16.2	8.7	20.5	4.6
F too unreliable to be published Note: The population consists of individuals who are not full-time students. Full-time employment is defined as working usually 30 hours or more per week. The main job is the job with the greatest number of weekly work hours. Oil-producing provinces include Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Newfoundland and Labrador. Source: Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey, 1976 to 2014.

Table 7
Accounting for changes in full-time employment rates from 1976 to 2014,
by sex and region
Table summary
This table displays the results of Accounting for changes in full-time employment rates from 1976 to 2014 Men, Women, Other provinces and Oil-producing provinces, calculated using percent units of measure (appearing as column headers).

	Men		Women
	Other provinces	Oil-producing provinces	Other provinces	Oil-producing provinces
	percent
Individuals aged 17 to 24
Percentage change in full-time employment rate	-26.0	-11.0	-21.5	-2.8
Proportion due to changes in:
Participation	23.2	25.0	-47.4	Note ...: not applicable
Unemployment	5.2	-6.7	-3.0	Note ...: not applicable
Part-time employment	71.6	81.6	150.4	Note ...: not applicable
Total	100.0	100.0	100.0	Note ...: not applicable
Individuals aged 25 to 29
Percentage change in full-time employment rate	-13.2	-4.8	43.7	65.8
Proportion due to changes in:
Participation	35.3	30.5	102.2	82.5
Unemployment	22.6	22.8	6.5	3.3
Part-time employment	42.1	46.6	-8.7	14.3
Total	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Individuals aged 30 to 54
Percentage change in full-time employment rate	-9.4	-3.3	77.1	80.9
Proportion due to changes in:
Participation	40.3	22.3	86.1	78.6
Unemployment	19.6	30.2	2.4	-1.2
Part-time employment	40.0	47.5	11.5	22.5
Total	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Individuals aged 55 to 64
Percentage change in full-time employment rate	-18.8	-7.4	77.6	88.2
Proportion due to changes in:
Participation	47.4	18.5	108.3	99.9
Unemployment	13.8	39.7	-1.5	-1.9
Part-time employment	38.8	41.8	-6.8	1.9
Total	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Individuals aged 17 to 64
Percentage change in full-time employment rate	-13.6	-5.1	41.8	49.2
Proportion due to changes in:
Participation	48.6	40.4	103.9	92.9
Unemployment	7.5	5.2	6.9	1.7
Part-time employment	43.9	54.4	-10.8	5.4
Total	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
... not applicable Note: Changes in full-time employment rates for individuals who are not full-time students. Full-time employment rates equal the percentage of individuals usually working 30 hours or more per week as employees or self-employed workers in their main job. The main job is the job with the greatest number of weekly hours of work. Sources of change may not add to 100.0 because of rounding. Oil-producing provinces include Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Newfoundland and Labrador. Source: Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey, 1976 and 2014.

Summary

Although the percentage of Canadians employed full time has risen modestly over the last four decades, this change masks diverging trends across sexes, age groups, and regions. Women aged 25 and over have massively increased their presence in the ranks of the Canadian workforce employed full time. In contrast, men of all ages, especially those under 25 in the non-oil-producing provinces, have experienced a decline in their full-time employment rates. Women under 25 living in these provinces were also employed full time in smaller proportions in 2014 than their counterparts were in 1976.

The evidence gathered in this article does not support the conjecture that the decline in the full-time employment rates of men and of youth resulted simply from growing preferences for part-time employment. Instead, it shows that, for these groups, much of the increase in the incidence of part-time employment was generally involuntary, i.e., reflected the willingness to work full time and the inability to find full-time employment. The study also showed that the decline in men’s full-time employment rates cannot be explained solely by the deterioration in employment opportunities of immigrant men.

While the increase in the full-time employment rates of women aged 25 and over was driven almost entirely by the growing participation rates of these women, the decline in men’s rates of full-time employment came from numerous sources. Rising part-time employment as well as―for men aged 25 and over―increases in inactivity contributed significantly to the drop in the proportion of men employed full time. Increases in unemployment generally did not play a primary role, although they did account for some of the changes in full-time employment rates. In fact, some groups―for example, men and women aged 17 to 24―had substantially lower full-time employment rates in 2014 than in 1976 even though their unemployment rates during these two years were fairly similar. This fact is an important reminder that aggregate measures sometimes do not provide a complete picture and that rigorous assessments of the degree of success of people in the Canadian labour market require considering jointly numerous labour market indicators.

References

Bernard, A. 2013. Unemployment Dynamics Among Canada’s Youth. Economic Insights, no. 24. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 11-626-X. Ottawa: Statistics Canada.

Galarneau, D., R. Morissette, and J. Usalcas. 2013. “What has changed for young people in Canada?” Insights on Canadian Society. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 75-006-X. Ottawa: Statistics Canada.

Goldin, C. 2006. “The quiet revolution that transformed women’s employment, education, and family.” American Economic Review 96 (2): 1–21.

Morissette, R., P.C.W. Chan, and Y. Lu. 2015. “Wages, youth employment and school enrollment: Recent evidence from increases in world oil prices.” Journal of Human Resources 50 (1): 222–253.

Schirle, T. 2008. “Why have the labor force participation rates of older men increased since the mid�1990s?” Journal of Labor Economics 26 (4): 549–594.

Statistics Canada. 2010. Guide to the Labour Force Survey 2010. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 71-543-G. Ottawa: Statistics Canada.

Notes