The Economic Legacy of Divorced and Separated Women in Old Age

Although progress has been made over the last 20 years, the burden of a low income in old age is still carried by unattached women. Few researchers, however, have examined exactly where the burden of poverty falls within the category of unattached older women or the nature of this poverty. Like any other group of older Canadians, unattached women are not a homogenous population. The category of 'unattached' includes the separated, divorced, widowed and ever single, all of whom face different circumstances in old age because of differences over the life course. Using SLID data we examine income and sources of income from 1993 to 1999 to identify differences among these groups. The findings indicate that the separated and divorced are the poorest of all older unattached women in Canada. A key source of the difference is the growth in private pension incomes.low income; old age; unattached women; SLID

Shifting Skill Demand and the Canada-US Unemployment Gap: Evidence from Prime-Age Men

This paper considers the possible role of shifts in labour demand away from unskilled workers, combined with an institutionally- generated greater labour supply elasticity in Canada, in explaining the apparent secular increase in Canadian male unemployment, and in explaining the emergence of the Canada-U.S. unemployment rate gap in the 1980's. Using comparable data on annual weeks worked and unemployed in both countries, we identify four main facts which are consistent with such this explanation: Both Canada and the US experienced wage polarization over this period, with substantial real wage declines for unskilled men; annual weeks worked fell disproportionately among unskilled workers in both countries; responses of weeks worked to wage declines were more elastic in Canada; and aggregate movements out of employment over this period corresponded closely to movements into unemployment in Canada. Interestingly, however, unskilled U.S. men were more likely than Canadians to leave the labour force as their employment fell, adding further to the Canada-U.S. unemployment gap. As well, some fairly substantial decreases in weeks worked are observed quite high up in the Canadian wage distribution, where wages did not fall appreciably. The latter changes cannot easily be explained by a shifts in labour demand alone.

The Economic Legacy of Divorced and Separated Women in Old Age

Although progress has been made over the last 20 years, the burden of a low income in old age is still carried by unattached women. Few researchers, however, have examined exactly where the burden of poverty falls within the category of unattached older women or the nature of this poverty. Like any other group of older Canadians, unattached women are not a homogenous population. The category of "unattached" includes the separated, divorced, widowed and ever single, all of whom face different circumstances in old age because of differences over the life course. Using SLID data we examine income and sources of income from 1993 to 1999 to identify differences among these groups. The findings indicate that the separated and divorced are the poorest of all older unattached women in Canada. A key source of the difference is the growth in private pension incomes.low income; old age; unattached women; SLID

Willingness-to-Pay for Improved Air Quality in Hamilton-Wentworth: A Choice Experiment

Prepared for Hamilton-Wentworth Air Quality Initiative pursuant to a memorandum of understanding among McMaster University, the Ontario Ministry of Environment and Energy and the Regional Municipality of Hamilton-Wentworth, dated November 5, 1996.

Persistence and Academic Success in University

We use a unique set of linked administrative data sets to explore the determinants of persistence and academic success in university. The explanatory power of high school grades greatly dominates that of other variables such as university program, gender, and neighbourhood and high school characteristics. Indeed, high school and neighbourhood characteristics, such as average standardized test scores for a high school or average neighbourhood income, have weak links with success in university.University Success, High School, Neighbourhood

Persistence and Academic Success in University

We use a unique set of linked administrative data sets to explore the determinants of persistence and academic success in university. The explanatory power of high school grades greatly dominates that of other variables such as university program, gender, and neighbourhood and high school characteristics. Indeed, high school and neighbourhood characteristics, such as average standardized test scores for a high school or average neighbourhood income, have weak links with success in university.university success, high school, neighbourhood.

The Independence and Economic Security of Older Women Living Alone

We study women aged 51-75 who live alone and are not married over the period 1969-1993 using national samples from The Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF) and The Family Expenditure Survey (FAMEX). We examine Income and Expenditure Patterns over the period and find that: there have been substantial increases in real incomes of these women, particularly during the 1970's. The principal source of growth was government transfers and especially the growth in CPP incomes. Should governments withdraw this financial support, low incomes could quickly re-emerge. Incomes of those who were previously married and of the older group of these women (ages 60-75) grew more rapidly over the period. The growth in income has gone almost entirely into consumption. Some of these women are able to save, but like most sub-groups of the Canadian population there is tremendous variability in saving rates among older women.SCF; FAMEX; income; expenditure; older women

Wage Inflation and the Distribution of Unemployement

Les résultats décevants que les recherchistes ont obtenus en essayant de découvrir des courbes de Phillips stables obligent à en examiner de nouveau les fondements théoriques. Même si l'on a fait en ces dernières années beaucoup d'effort pour tenir compte de l'hypothèse de prévisions inflationnistes, on a aussi considéré attentivement les relations entre les taux d'inflation et les taux de chômage nationaux et régionaux. Quelles que soient les directions dans lesquelles les recherches se sont orientées, on est arrivé à la conclusion qu'il n'existe pas de marché du travail « global », mais qu'il y a, à l'intérieur d'une économie nationale, plusieurs marchés du travail interreliés. Dans leur article, les auteurs ont analysé le problème des courbes de Phillips régionales « globales » et quelques-uns des problèmes qu'elles soulèvent. À partir d'études théoriques récentes faites sur le sujet en Grande-Bretagne et en Amérique du Nord, ils ont essayé de montrer que plus la dispersion du chômage à travers différents secteurs de l'économie est marquée plus la courbe de Phillips a tendance à glisser vers la droite, que la direction de l'effet de dispersion est ambiguë lorsqu'il y a mobilité de la main-d'oeuvre d'une région à l'autre et, enfin, que, même quand il n'y a pas migration de la main-d'oeuvre, il ne s'ensuit pas nécessairement un effet de dispersion.L'étude de Lipsey a considéré l'hypothèse de l'existence d'une économie divisée en deux marchés du travail en supposant un taux de chômage différent de l'un à l'autre alors que le taux de chômage global demeure constant. Il en résulte que les salaires augmentent plus rapidement dans la région où le taux de chômage est bas qu'ils ne baissent dans celle où le taux de chômage est le plus élevé. Lipsey en conclut donc que plus la différence entre les taux de chômage est grande entre les deux secteurs, plus l'indice des taux de salaire a tendance à s'accroître. Dans le cas du Canada, il devient évident qu'il faut repenser la théorie de Lipsey. Un autre auteur, Archibald, a montré qu'il n'y a pas lieu de s'en préoccuper en autant que le taux de changement de l'indice global des salaires est construit de telle sorte que les taux individuels de salaire soient pondérés en tenant compte de la main-d'oeuvre existant dans chacune des deux régions. Le but de l'article est de démontrer que le raisonnement apporté par Archibald à l'appui de la théorie de Lipsey ne vaut plus s'il y a migration de la main-d'oeuvre d'une région à l'autre. Or, comme la migration des sans-travail des régions à haut taux de chômage aux régions à taux de chômage bas est un phénomène bien établi au Canada et aux États-Unis, les auteurs expriment l'opinion que l'analyse d'Archibald n'a pas tellement de signification, car, comme le laissent voir les études de Brechling pour les États-Unis et celles de Kaliski et de Thirsk pour le Canada, il n'existe pas d'effet de dispersion.Cependant, lorsqu'il y a dispersion des taux de chômage, les recherchistes peuvent également vouloir mesurer le degré de dispersion dans la courbe de Phillips « globale ». Pour ce faire, il faut que les changements globaux dans les données relatives aux salaires soient construites de façon que la pondération de l'ensemble tienne compte des proportions de main-d'oeuvre. En résumé, si l'on considère que les sans-travail émigrent d'une région du Canada à l'autre, il n'est aucunement surprenant que les études empiriques existantes soient impuissantes à détecter un effet de dispersion positif. La conséquence de cette ambiguïté signifie qu'on ne peut découvrir une courbe de Phillips d'ensemble stable d'où il résulte que les tentatives en vue d'incorporer la variable d'un changement des taux auquel on s'attend s'avèrent un test nullement appropriéde l'hypothèse de l'accélération.The authors re-examine the question of aggregating regional Phillips curves and suggest some problems with the empirical work to date

Cohort, Year and Age Effects in Canadian Wage Data

We use Canadian Surveys of Consumer Finances 1971-1993 to study the wages of full-time, full-year male and female workers. Median real wages of 24-year-old males without a university degree fell by 25% between 1978 and 1993. For 24-year-old females the decline was more modest and reversed in 1987, but real wages in 1993 were still significantly lower than they were in 1978. We investigate whether these changes are permanent "cohort" effects or more temporary "year" effects. Graphs of median wages against year and age indicate some periods where year effects are more prominent than cohort effects and other periods where the reverse is true. We then compare the results from two models, one assigning the trends to year effects, the other assigning them to cohort effects, and use these models to produce real wage projections.SCF; wages; cohort

The Transition from Good to Poor Health: An Econometric Study of the Older Population

This is a study of the influence of socioeconomic factors on the state of health of older Canadians. Three years of panel data from the Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics are used to model the transition probabilities between good and poor health. Care is taken to avoid the problem of endogeneity of income in modelling its effects, and to adjust reported income to free it from its strong association with age at the time of the survey. Of particular note are the significant effects found for income, in spite of universal public health care coverage. Significant effects are found also for age, education, and other variables.Socio-economic factors and health; older population; panel data; SLID