May 30, 2016
For many Canadian families two incomes are better than one, report shows
ANALYSIS: A new report released by Statistics Canada focuses on what many families already know: Two incomes are better than one. The proportion of Canadian families with at least one child under the age of 16 and two employed parents has almost doubled in the last four decades – rising from 36 per cent in 1976, to 69 per cent in 2015.
In other words, seven in 10 families are comprised of dual income earners, compared with just four in 10 back in 1976.
A variety of factors play into this new reality, including higher educational levels for women, general market conditions, and in some cases more flexible working arrangements and greater family support.
But that’s not all – part of this reality is that families are struggling to make ends meet. Canadians ended 2015 with a record high debt burden, as low interest rates and hot regional housing markets fueled the fastest year of household debt growth since 2011. It is not so much that jobs have opened up for women, but it became clearer in the mid-70s that a single-income household could no longer support a comfortable, middle-class lifestyle. In other words, it’s not only that opportunities have increased for women but an economic need has driven more women to work. And it is the economic need today that keeps both parents in the workforce.
Just because women are working doesn’t mean all avenues are open to them.
We are starting to see women climb the corporate ladder, and entrepreneurship is growing while education levels are increasing. Women represented 47.2 per cent of the total labour force in 2015 compared to 37.1 per cent in 1976. The challenge is that progression is still stubbornly slow. Added to that, much of the participation we have seen in the past occurs in fields traditionally oriented toward women. Leading occupations in the 1970s were secretaries, bookkeepers and elementary school teachers – and fast forward to today, there is still debate about how to recruit more women to male-dominated industries like technology and engineering.
The proportion of dual-income families varied among provinces. In 1976, Alberta had the highest proportion of dual income earners at 43 per cent followed by Ontario at 42 per cent. In contrast, the Atlantic provinces (27 per cent) and Quebec at (29 per cent) had the lowest proportions then.
Amid a backdrop of slumping oil prices and job losses in Alberta, in 2015 the province had the lowest percentage of dual-income couples with children at 64.1 per cent.
Saskatchewan had the highest percentage with 74.1 per cent, followed by Quebec with 73.2 per cent.
As the Chief Financial Commentator for CTV News, Pattie Lovett-Reid gives viewers an informed opinion of the Canadian financial climate. Follow her on Twitter @PattieCTV
