Young men and women without a high school diploma

In this paper, multiple sources of data are used to study the profile and labour market outcomes of young men and women aged 25 to 34 without a high school diploma. The data sources include the Labour Force Survey (LFS), the Canadian Income Survey (CIS) and the Canadian Survey on Disability (CSD). Key findings include: (1) in 2016, 8.5 per cent of men and 5.4 per cent of women aged 25 to 34 had less than a high school diploma, representing about 340,000 young Canadians; (2) lone parenthood was more prevalent among young women with less than a high school diploma (19 per cent) than it was among young women with no more than a high school diploma (10 per cent); moreover, 11 per cent of young men and women with less than a high school diploma reported that they had a disability, compared with six per cent or less for those who had no more than a high school diploma; (3) in 2016, the employment rate of young adults aged 25 to 34 with less than a high school diploma was 67 per cent for men and 41 per cent for women; in 1990, 75 per cent of men and 50 per cent of women in the same educational category were employed; (4) in 2016, 51 per cent of women with less than a high school diploma were not in the labour force, up from 40 per cent in 1990; the proportion of non-participants also increased among men in the same educational category, from 12 per cent to 22 per cent; (5) construction trade helpers and labourers and transport truck drivers were the two occupations employing the most men with less than a high school diploma; among women in the same educational category, the top two occupations were light duty cleaners and cashiers; and (6) on average, more than 60 per cent of the income of young women with less than a high school diploma came from government transfers; this proportion was two times higher than that of young men with a similar level of education.

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