The Mom Effect: Family Proximity and the Labour Force Status of Women in Canada

In this paper, we examine the effect of family co-residence and proximity on the labour force participation and working hours of Canadian women. Using Cycle 21 of the Canadian General Social Survey, we describe proximity patterns in Canada and show that the labour force attachment of women is related to the proximity of their mothers. Lower labour market attachment is found for married women without young children who co-reside with their mothers (those women most likely to care for their elderly mothers) and for married women with young children who live more than half a day away from their mothers (those women least likely to benefit from the availability of family provided childcare). On the intensive margin, both married and single women with children work fewer hours if they live far from their mothers. The results hold only for proximity to living mothers (as opposed to proximity to widowed fathers), suggesting that it is the mothers themselves, and not merely the home location, that drives the results. The results are consistent in IV estimations. To the extent that the positive effect of close proximity is related to the availability of grandchild care, policies that impact the labour force behaviour of grandmothers may also impact the labour force behaviour of their daughters. Moreover, the regional patterns in proximity suggest that national childcare and labour market policies may yield different results across the country.Women’s labour supply; Family proximity; Childcare

For Whom the 'Retirement' Bell Tolls: Inter-temporal Comparisons Using the 1994 and 2002 Canadian General Social Survey

Data from the 2002 and 1994 General Social Survey are used to analyze the determinants of retiring due to mandatory retirement and the expected age of retirement in Canada. Changes between 1994 and 2002 are decomposed into a component attributable to shifts in the composition of respondents and the other component to changes in the preferences and constraints of respondents, the latter playing a very important role for both outcomes. Specifically, between 1994 and 2002 we find: (1) a 1.3 percentage point drop in the probability of retiring due to mandatory retirement, with that drop due to preference/constraint changes substantially reducing the probability of retiring due to mandatory retirement but being almost offset by a change in the composition of the workforce that increased the probability of retiring due to mandatory retirement; and (2) a 3.7 year increase in the expected age of retirement, with that increase being almost exclusively attributable to preference and constraint shifts. The implications of these findings for employers, employees and policy makers areRetirement, Expected Retirement Age, Labour Supply, Mandatory Retirement