Table 3
Labour force participation among lone mothers with children under 18 years of age and with positive earnings

Warning View the most recent version.

Archived Content

Information identified as archived is provided for reference, research or recordkeeping purposes. It is not subject to the Government of Canada Web Standards and has not been altered or updated since it was archived. Please "contact us" to request a format other than those available.

  United States Canada
  1979 1989 1999 Change 1979 to 1999 1980 1990 2000 Change 1980 to 2000
percent
Age
Under 25 53.8 55.5 73.4 19.7 44.8 44.8 50.7 5.9
25 to 29 68.9 67.1 83.1 14.2 57.1 55.1 64.3 7.2
30 to 34 75.6 74.3 84.2 8.6 66.4 65.3 71.5 5.1
35 to 39 77.1 80.2 84.6 7.5 69.6 73.9 76.2 6.6
40 to 44 75.5 82.5 84.7 9.2 68.2 77.8 79.3 11.1
45 to 49 70.5 77.8 82.8 12.3 62.9 75.8 80.3 17.4
50 to 54 62.1 67.4 76.7 14.5 54.5 66.4 76.1 21.7
55 and over 47.5 48.9 51.0 3.5 40.4 46.1 51.6 11.3
Education
Less than Grade 12 49.8 47.1 59.3 9.5 45.3 47.2 52.8 7.5
Grade 12 76.3 72.6 80.4 4.2 68.1 69.3 72.2 4.1
Some postsecondary 82.9 83.8 89.5 6.6 80.6 80.1 81.6 1.0
University degree 90.2 93.1 93.5 3.3 90.5 90.3 89.8 -0.7
Marital status
Never married 53.2 59.2 77.3 24.1 49.6 53.5 65.2 15.6
Divorced or separated 75.8 79.5 85.8 10.0 65.7 72.7 78.9 13.2
Widow 58.0 63.3 67.2 9.2 54.2 63.9 67.2 13.1
Race
Whites 77.6 80.2 86.8 9.2 60.2 66.5 75.3 15.1
Blacks 59.1 64.8 78.2 19.1 81.1 67.4 69.8 -11.3
Asians 70.4 64.5 78.2 7.8 74.2 65.7 66.2 -8.0
Hispanics1 50.7 57.7 72.6 21.9        
Others 63.2 64.2 78.0 14.8 63.6 54.1 64.8 1.2
Total 69.1 72.3 81.7 12.6 61.0 66.4 73.1 12.1

 

1. Canadian data for Hispanics are combined with data for "Others."

Note: Estimates for the United States are calculated by the authors from the U.S. census Public-Use Microdata Sample files. Estimates for Canada are calculated by the authors from master data files from the Canadian census. Employment and earnings are reported for the year preceding the census.

Sources: Statistics Canada, Census of Canada, 1981, 1991 and 2001; U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Census, 1980, 1990 and 2000.