2,294 research outputs found
Gender Gap in Dropping out of High School: Evidence from the Canadian NLSCY Youth
This paper exploits the panel features of the Canadian National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY) and the large diversity of measures collected on the children and their families over 7 cycles (1994-1995 to 2006-2007) to explain high school graduation (dropout rates) of Canadian youth aged 18 to 23 observed in the most recent wave of the survey. We focus on the gap between females and males which in some provinces is high, particularly in Québec. The econometric approach uses a non-linear Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition technique to identify and quantify the separate contributions of group differences in measurable characteristics (youth attributes and family endowments) to the gender gap in high school graduation rates. We find that the traditional barriers to high school graduation, linked to poverty, are very detrimental for males in Québec. However, we also find that the male-female gap across Canada is very partially explained by differences in endowments such as reading or maths skills in school. Finally, as in other recent studies, our results show that parental expectations about educational attainment are predictors of high school graduation. Public policy approaches for the reduction of the male-female gap are proposed. More radical measures and some experimental approaches (pilot projects) should be adopted in Québec to decrease rapidly the dropout rates and increase high school graduation rates by the age of 18.Longitudinal data, high school dropouts, youth attributes, family endowments, gender gap, non-linear Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition
Low-fee ($5/day/child) Regulated Childcare Policy and the Labor Supply of Mothers with Young Children: a Natural Experiment from Canada
On September 1st, 1997, a new childcare policy was initiated by the provincial government of Quebec, the second most populous province in Canada. Childcare services licensed by the Ministry of the Family (not-for-profit centres, family-based childcare, and for-profit centres under the agreement) began offering day care spaces at the reduced parental contribution of 5 per day childcare spaces. By September 2000, the low-fee policy applied to all children aged 0 to 59 months (not in kindergarten) and the number of partly subsidized spaces increased from 77,000 in 1998 to 163,000 spaces, totally subsidized by the end of year 2002, while the number of eligible children, zero to four years old, declined from 428,000 to 369,000 over the same period. Using annual data (1993 to 2002), drawn from Statistics Canada's Suvey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID), this study attempts to estimate the effect of the policy on the labor supply behavior of Quebec mothers with pre-school children, aged from 0 to 5 years old. The analysis examines the impact of the policy on the following outcomes: labor force participation, annual number of weeks and hours at work, annual earned income and whether the job was full-time for mothers who declared having a job during the reference year. A non-experimental evaluation framework based on multiple pre- and post- treatment periods is used to estimate the effect of the childcare regime. The econometrics results support the hypothesis that the childcare policy, together with the transformation of public kindergarten from a part-time to a full-time basis, had a large and statistically significant impact on the labor supply of Quebec's mothers with pre-school children. The estimates also suggest, though less convincingly, that the size of the impact increased concurrently with the positive growth in the number of low-fee spaces.Mother's labor supply, preschool children, childcare subsidy, natural experiment
The QuĂ©becâs Experiment of $5 per Day per Child Childcare Policy and Motherâs Labour Supply: Evidence Based on the Five Cycles of the NLSCY
On September 1st, 1997, a new childcare policy was initiated by the provincial government of Quebec, the second most populous province in Canada. Childcare services licensed by the Ministry of the Family (not-for-profit centres, family-based childcare, and for-profit centres under the agreement) began offering day care spaces at the reduced parental contribution of 5 per day childcare spaces. By September 2000, the low-fee policy applied to all children aged 0 to 59 months (not in kindergarten) and the number of partly subsidized spaces increased from 77,000 in 1998 to 163,000 spaces, totally subsidized by the end of year 2002, while the number of eligible children, zero to four years old, declined from 428,000 to 369,000 over the same period.
Using data drawn from Statistics Canadaâs National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY), this study attempts to estimate the effect of the policy on the labour supply behavior of Quebec mothers with pre-school children, aged from 0 to 5 years old. The analysis examines the impact of the policy on the following outcomes: labour force participation and annual number of weeks at work. A non-experimental evaluation framework based on multiple pre- and post-treatment periods is used to estimate the effect of the childcare regime.
The econometric results support the hypothesis that the childcare policy, together with the transformation of public kindergarten from a part-time to a full-time basis, had a large and statistically significant impact on the labour supply of Quebecâs mothers with pre-school children. The estimates also suggest, though less convincingly, that the size of the impact increased concurrently with the positive growth in the number of low-fee spaces.
Le 1er septembre 1997, le gouvernement du QuĂ©bec instaurait une nouvelle politique de subvention aux services de garde. Les milieux de garde reconnus par le ministĂšre de la Famille et de lâEnfance ont commencĂ© Ă offrir des places Ă contribution rĂ©duite (5 $/jour) pour les enfants qui avaient atteint l'Ăąge de 4 ans au 30 septembre. En outre, le gouvernement sâengageait Ă rĂ©duire progressivement (chaque annĂ©e) lâĂąge dâadmissibilitĂ© de ces places et Ă augmenter leur nombre dans le rĂ©seau des services de garde subventionnĂ©s. En septembre 2000, la politique sâest appliquĂ©e Ă tous les enfants ĂągĂ©s de 0 Ă 59 mois (non en maternelle) et le nombre de places partiellement subventionnĂ©es est passĂ© de 77 000 en 1998 Ă 163 000 Ă la fin de 2002, alors que le nombre dâenfants ĂągĂ©s de 0 Ă 4 ans a baissĂ© de 428 000 Ă 369 000 sur la mĂȘme pĂ©riode.
Cette Ă©tude, qui sâappuie sur les donnĂ©es de lâEnquĂȘte nationale longitudinale sur les enfants et les jeunes, conduite par Statistique Canada, estime les effets de la politique sur lâoffre de travail des mĂšres quĂ©bĂ©coises qui ont au moins un enfant ĂągĂ© entre 0 et 5 ans. Deux indicateurs du comportement de travail sont analysĂ©s, soit la participation au marchĂ© du travail et le nombre annuel de semaines travaillĂ©es. Lâanalyse adopte une approche « quasi expĂ©rimentale », câest-Ă -dire que les diffĂ©rences entre les mĂšres quĂ©bĂ©coises (groupe traitement) et les mĂšres des autres provinces (groupe de contrĂŽle) sont comparĂ©es avant et aprĂšs la mise en place du rĂ©gime de subventions aux services de garde. Nos rĂ©sultats sont conformes Ă lâhypothĂšse que le programme de soutien aux services de garde mis en place par le gouvernement du QuĂ©bec, simultanĂ©ment avec la maternelle cinq ans gratuite et Ă temps plein, ont eu un impact important et statistiquement significatif sur lâoffre de travail des mĂšres avec des enfants de 5 ans ou moins. Les rĂ©sultats Ă©conomĂ©triques soutiennent aussi, quoique de façon moins convaincante, que lâampleur de lâeffet a augmentĂ© simultanĂ©ment avec lâaugmentation du nombre de places Ă contribution rĂ©duite de 1998 Ă 2002.motherâs labour supply, preschool children, childcare subsidy, quasi-natural experiment, offre de travail des mĂšres, enfants dâĂąge prĂ©scolaire, politique de garde, expĂ©rience quasi naturelle
Family Background, Family Income, Cognitive Tests Scores, Behavioural Scales and their Relationship with Post-secondary Education Participation: Evidence from the NLSCY
This paper exploits the panel feature of the Canadian National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY) and the large diversity of measures collected on the children ad their families over 6 cycles (1994-1995 to 2004-2005) to explain high school graduation and postsecondary education (PSE) choices of Canadian youth aged 18 to 21 observed in the most recent wave of the survey. In estimating how family background, family income, cognitive abilities, non-cognitive abilities and behavioural scores influence schooling choices they can be used as markers for identifying children at risk of not pursuing PSE. We focus on the impact of measures that are specific to the NLSCY which contains a host of scores on several dimensions such as the cognitive achievement of children (reading and math test scores); behavioural scores that measure the levels of hyperactivity, aggression, and pro-sociality; scores that measure self-esteem and self-control (non-cognitive abilities); and, family scores that measure the quality of parenting, family dysfunction, of neighbourhoods and schools quality. The math and reading scores are particularly interesting because they are computed from objective tests and are not based on any type of recall, as compared, for example, with the Youth in Transition Survey (YITS) data set. Despite the fact that income, as measured as the mean income ($2002) of the family during cycles 1 to 4, does not seem to be a key player for PSE attendance or high school graduation, the sign of its effect is generally positive and non-linear, increases for children in very low income will have a large effect that those with higher levels. More importantly, several variables that are characteristics of low-income families play a key role for schooling attainment. For example, being from a single-parent/guardian home with a poorly educated PMK and with less than (perceived) excellent/very good health or with high levels of hyperactivity for males or high levels of aggression for young teenage females will almost negate any chance of attaining the level of PSE.High school graduation, postsecondary education, schooling transition, gender, youth, longitudinal data
Labour Outcomes of Graduates and Dropouts of High School and Post-secondary Education: Evidence for Canadian 24- to 26-year-olds in 2005
The purpose of this research is to estimate the impact of education, with a particular focus on education levels lower than a university diploma, on the labour market and social outcomes of the 24- to 26-year-old Canadians found in the fourth wave of the Youth in Transition Survey (YITS), conducted by Statistics Canada in 2006. We focus on differences between individuals who did not pursue college or university level degrees. We find that dropouts perform very poorly for most of the outcomes we analyse. Our most important result is that males who finish their high-school degree very late (after 19 years of age), perform, ceteris paribus, at many levels like dropouts. This suggests that policy makers should be taking a very close look at âsecond chanceâ or âadult educationâ programs across Canada.Education levels, high school and postsecondary dropouts, graduate and continuers, earnings, wage rates, employment, employment insurance and social assistance, volunteer activities, youth skills
Work Schedules, Job Characteristics, Parenting Practices and Children's Outcomes
The goal of this research was to find evidence for serious negative effects of employment conditions on different measures of child outcomes taking into account the family background characteristics and family income. In particular, we wanted to know whether the mother's job characteristics (working full-time or part-time, being in a job with unusual schedules, working in a low skill job and job loss) could tax a child's assessed outcomes in an important way. It is asked whether job characteristics have effects on young children's measurable outcomes (scores on developmental-assessment instruments) and on parenting practices. The analysis uses data from cycle 1 of the Canadian National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY) to examine these relationships. Independently, we asked if these working conditions influence parenting practices, disregarding the potential role of parenting style on children'outcomes. In a few cases, we did find negative effects, but they could not be deemed serious given their size. The most important dimension seemed to be time, as children with full-time working mothers, whatever their schedule or occupation, regularly had lower scores on behavioural outcomes than part-time working mothers and non working mothers. For the others outcomes working conditions do not seem to be matter much. The results also confirm conclusions on income effects recently provided in American studies. The effects are stronger for the poor then they subside for the higher classes of income providing evidence for the importance of achieving a certain minimum standard of living for school readiness and in order to perform reasonably well in school. The estimated income effects imply that non-monetary factors could play a bigger role than income in affecting child development. Cette Ă©tude examine les effets du contexte familial et des conditions d'emploi des parents sur diffĂ©rents indicateurs mesurant le dĂ©veloppement des enfants ainsi que sur les techniques parentales. L'analyse repose sur les donnĂ©es du cycle 1 de l'EnquĂȘte longitudinale nationale sur les enfants et les jeunes. L'objectif poursuivi fut de vĂ©rifier la prĂ©sence d'effets nĂ©gatifs sur les enfants associĂ©s aux conditions d'emploi en tenant compte tant des caractĂ©ristiques familiales et du revenu familial. Les indicateurs de dĂ©veloppement retenus mesurent le dĂ©veloppement cognitif des enfants (des 4-5 ans), diffĂ©rents comportements positifs et nĂ©gatifs (pour les 4-11 ans) ainsi que le rendement Ă l'Ă©cole (pour les enfants en premiĂšre annĂ©e et plus). Les conditions d'emploi des mĂšres examinĂ©s sont le travail Ă temps plein et Ă temps partiel, les diffĂ©rents types d'horaire de travail, les niveaux de qualification des emplois occupĂ©s ainsi que la perte d'un emploi. De façon indĂ©pendante, les effets des conditions d'emploi sur les techniques parentales sont aussi analysĂ©s. Quelques conditions d'emploi ont des effets nĂ©gatifs, mais leur ampleur est faible. La dimension la plus importante est le temps dans la mesure oĂč les enfants dont les mĂšres travaillent Ă temps plein selon des horaires a-typique, peut importe l'occupation, ont des scores de comportements un peu plus bas que ceux avec des mĂšres travaillant Ă temps partiel ou ne travaillant pas. Alors que pour les autres indicateurs les conditions de travail ne semblent pas avoir, en gĂ©nĂ©ral, d'importance. Les rĂ©sultats quant aux effets de niveau de revenu familial vont dans le sens de ceux obtenus dans les Ă©tudes amĂ©ricaines rĂ©centes. Ces effets sont importants pour les familles les plus pauvres puis dĂ©croissent pour les classes de revenu plus Ă©levĂ©es. Ceci soutient l'idĂ©e de la nĂ©cessitĂ© pour les familles d'atteindre un certain seuil de revenu afin que soient rĂ©unis les conditions favorables au dĂ©veloppement des enfants et de leur rĂ©ussite Ă l'Ă©cole. Les effets de revenus impliquent que les facteurs non monĂ©taires jouent un plus grand rĂŽle que le revenu dans le dĂ©veloppement des enfants.Mother's working hours, attributes of occupation, job loss, family income, child outcomes
The Recent Evolution of Retirement Patterns in Canada
Using data from three waves of the General Social Survey on retirement and older workers (1994, 2002 and 2007), we document the evolution of retirement patterns over the last three decades. We combined the analysis of retirement ages of actual retirees with data on expected retirement ages of current workers to create a longer perspective on changes in retirement behaviour in Canada. We also investigate trends in work after retirement. Our findings are in line with findings from other countries. There is an upward trend in retirement ages which likely started around year 2000 for cohorts born after 1945. This trend contrasts with the slow decline in retirement ages observed prior to the end of the millennium. While the downward trend was likely due to factors such as the offering of early retirement programs in private firms, the upward trend is likely to be caused by a wider variety of sources, including better health, less pervasive defined benefit pensions and in general less generous pensions.Retirement, aging, policies, expectations
The Effect of Childcare and Early Education Arrangements on Developmental Outcomes of Young Children
This study investigates the relationship between child care arrangements and developmental outcomes of young children using data from Cycle 1 of the Canadian National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth. Models of the determinants of Motor and Social Development (MSD) scores for children aged 0-47 months, and of the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test assessment scores (PPVT-R) for children aged 4-5 years are estimated controlling for a variety of non-parental childcare and early education characteristics. The results suggest that infant-toddler non-parental care arrangements have insignificant or negligible impacts on developmental outcomes (MSD). For preschoolers, modes of care and early education do not, on average, influence cognitive development (PPVT). The results of fixed effect estimates for a sample of siblings aged 0-47 months confirm the preceding conclusion. The analysis is repeated to identify the determinants of the probability the child's MSD (PPVT) score is in the bottom part of the distribution of MSD (PPVT) scores and the conclusions are similar. Cette Ă©tude explore la relation entre les modalitĂ©s des services de garde et des indicateurs mesurĂ©s du dĂ©veloppement des jeunes enfants Ă l'aide des donnĂ©es du cycle 1 de l'EnquĂȘte longitudinale nationale sur les enfants et les jeunes canadiens. La modĂ©lisation Ă©conomĂ©trique analyse les dĂ©terminants des scores de dĂ©veloppement social et moteur (DSM) des enfants de 0 Ă 47 mois ainsi que les scores Ă un test de vocabulaire (EVIP-R) administrĂ© aux enfants de 4-5 ans en prenant en considĂ©ration diffĂ©rentes caractĂ©ristiques des services de garde et d'Ă©ducation des enfants. Les rĂ©sultats suggĂšrent que pour les nouveaux-nĂ©s et les enfants en bas Ăąge les modalitĂ©s de garde non parentale ont des effets non statistiquement significatifs ou nĂ©gligeables sur le DSM. Pour les enfants d'Ăąge prĂ©scolaire, les modes de garde ou d'Ă©ducation prĂ©scolaire n'ont pas en moyenne d'effets sur le dĂ©veloppement cognitif (EVIP). L'estimation d'un modĂšle Ă effets fixes pour un sous-Ă©chantillon d'enfants composĂ© de frĂšres et de soeurs confirme la conclusion prĂ©cĂ©dente. L'analyse est rĂ©pĂ©tĂ©e pour identifier les dĂ©terminants de la probabilitĂ© qu'un enfant soit observĂ© avec un score le classant dans la partie infĂ©rieure de la distribution des scores (DSM et EVIP), et les conclusions sont similaires.Childcare, early education, developmental outcomes, public policy.
The Recent Evolution of Retirement Patterns in Canada
Using data from three waves of the General Social Survey on retirement and older workers (1994, 2002 and 2007), we document the evolution of retirement patterns over the last three decades. We combined the analysis of retirement ages of actual retirees with data on expected retirement ages of current workers to create a longer perspective on changes in retirement behaviour in Canada. We also investigate trends in work after retirement. Our findings are in line with findings from other countries. There is an upward trend in retirement ages which likely started around year 2000 for cohorts born after 1945. This trend contrasts with the slow decline in retirement ages observed prior to the end of the millennium. While the downward trend was likely due to factors such as the offering of early retirement programs in private firms, the upward trend is likely to be caused by a wider variety of sources, including better health, less pervasive defined benefit pensions and in general less generous pensions.Retirement, aging, older workers, expectations
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