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Families Count 2024

Vanier Institute’s new resource explores three decades of change, continuity, and complexity among families in Canada. Released during the International Year of the Family’s 30th anniversary, Families Count 2024 provides statistical portraits of families in Canada, highlights trends over time, and offers insights on what it all means for families and family life.

Chapter 17 – Most mothers of young children are working for pay

Prior to the 1970s, women who were pregnant were expected to quit their job, if they had not already done so when they got married. Meanwhile, their partner was expected to provide financially for the family. Today, having a child no longer signals the end of a woman’s career, but mothers of young children do not participate in the labour market as much as fathers or women without children.1

The gender gap in the labour force participation of parents with young children has narrowed since the 1970s, particularly among the core working-age group aged 25 to 54. In 2023, 79.7% of mothers in this age group and with children under age six participated in the labour market, up from 65.9% in 1994, and more than double the rate in 1976 (35.8%).2 Among fathers with young children, the labour force participation rate remained stable between 1976 (97.2%) and 2023 (96.3%).

Mothers of older children are more likely to be in the workforce than those with younger children, but this gap has narrowed since the 1970s. In 2023, there was a difference of 8.6 percentage points between the labour market participation of mothers of children aged 13 to 17 (88.3%) and children under six (79.7%).2 This is down from a gap of 17.6 percentage points in 1976, when 35.8% of mothers of children under six and 53.4% of those with children aged 13 to 17 participated in the labour market.

As the labour force participation rate of mothers has increased, so has the proportion of dual-earner couple families with young children. Data from the Labour Force Survey (LFS)a show that the proportion of couple families with children under six with two earners increased from 46.5% in 1991 to 68.3% by 2021.1 This varies across the country, ranging from 60.0% in Alberta to 74.3% in Quebec in 2021.

Another change in women’s workforce participation is that mothers in one-parent families and those in couples had similar labour force participation rates in 2023 (83.6% and 84.5%, respectively).3 This was not the case in the late 1970s. At that time, many mothers were full-time homemakers who were not in the labour market. Mothers in one-parent families did not typically have that option, and the resources to support their continued participation in the workforce, like formal childcare, were more limited. In 1976, 59.9% of mothers in one-parent families were in the workforce, compared with 44.1% of mothers in a couple relationship.

Why this matters

The increase in mothers’ labour force participation represents a substantial change from the traditional model of family life that was dominant in Canada since the Second World War. This shift strengthened the economic capacity and independence of women and changed the economic structure of families with children. It also increased the need for non-parental childcare options.

Despite this change, having children often leads to a “motherhood penalty.”4 This refers to the negative consequences women face in the workforce after they have children, such as lower employment rates and incomes.

Source: Institut de la statistique du Québec. (2024, February 2). Labour market indicators, results by family situation and sex, 25-54 years, Québec, Ontario, Canada, 1976-2023 (in French only).2


Note

a Data from the LFS excludes the territories, persons living on reserves, full-time members of the regular Canadian Armed Forces, and persons living in institutions.


References
  1. Choi, Y. (2023, November 22). Labour market participation of parents with young children. Economic and Social Reports. https://doi.org/10.25318/36280001202301100003-eng ↩︎
  2. Institut de la statistique du Québec. (2024, February 2). Labour market indicators, results by family situation and sex, 25-54 years, Québec, Ontario, Canada, 1976-2023 (in French only). https://statistique.quebec.ca/en/produit/tableau/labour-market-indicators-results-by-family-situation-and-sex-25-54-years-quebec-ontario-canada#tri_regn=2&tri_sexe=1 ↩︎
  3. Institut de la statistique du Québec. (2024, September 3). Labour market indicators, results by family situation and sex, 25-54 years, Québec, Ontario, Canada, 1976-2023 (in French only).
    https://statistique.quebec.ca/en/document/responsabilites-familiales-et-travail/tableau/labour-market-indicators-by-family-status-and-presence-of-children-results-by-gender-25-54-years-quebec-ontario-and-canada#tri_regn=50040000000000 000&tri_sexe=1 ↩︎
  4. Budig, M. J., Misra, J., & Boeckmann, I. (2012, June 1). The motherhood penalty in cross-national perspective: The importance of work–family policies and cultural attitudes. Social politics, 19(2), 163-193. https://doi.org/10.1093/sp/jxs006 ↩︎