Economic and Social Reports

Spotlight on data and research

Registered education savings plan investments by family income and liquid wealth

Liquid wealth is a very important factor for investing in Registered Education Savings Plans (RESPs). The article “Registered education savings plan investments by family income and liquid wealth” shows that while there is still a large difference in RESP investments between low-income and high-income families, high liquid-wealth families tend to hold considerably more RESP investments than low-liquid-wealth families, even when both are in the same income group.

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Research articles

Postsecondary education decisions following a permanent layoff

Workers who lose their job are more likely to return to school with a career focus in mind. The article “Postsecondary education decisions following a permanent layoff,” finds that experiencing a permanent layoff is not only associated with an increased likelihood of enrolling in postsecondary education, but once there, affected workers are more likely to select short, career-oriented programs. A permanent layoff is also associated with a higher probability of women enrolling in a STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) program, including those that are mathematics-intensive.

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Who are Canada’s legislators? Characteristics and gender gaps among members of legislative bodies

This study compares and contrasts sociodemographic characteristics of men and women who worked as legislators in the federal, provincial and territorial, or municipal, local and regional public administration in 2016. Women accounted for just under a third of all legislators at all three levels of government. This share was very similar in 2001. Women legislators differed from their male counterparts along several dimensions such as age, marital status, presence of children and education level.

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