23. Since 1976 the size of these two population groups
has been roughly equal in Canada but, because the
teen participation rate is much lower, their share of
the labour force is less than 6 per cent compared with
10 per cent for the older group.
24. In Canada, 95 per cent of 15- to 16-year-olds are at-
tending school, compared to 97 per cent in the United
States; for 17- to 19-year-olds the figures are about 70
per cent in Canada and 71 per cent in the United States.
Statistics Canada (1997) and Census Bureau (1995).
25. A Statistics Canada review of youths and the labour
market notes the school to work transition has become
more difficult for this group in the 1990s. The employ-
ment rate for non-student youths (15-24) has fallen
from 73.2 per cent in 1992 to 69.2 per cent in 1996.
Statistics Canada (1997)
26. An international literacy survey done in 1994, and in
which Canada participated, found Canadians in the
labour force who were at the lowest level of literacy
had a significantly higher level of unemployment than
those who were at the highest level of literacy. The
differences were similar on three scales, prose, docu-
ment and quantitative (Statistics Canada, HDRC and
National Literacy Secretariat, 1996).
27. Archambault and Grignon (1999) found the minimum
wage relative to the industrial wage had a significant
negative impact on youth participation rates, particu-
larly of students. Other studies in the U.S. in the 1990s
have found a rise in the minimum wage appeared to
increase employment. See Card, David and Alan B.
Kreuger (1994).
28. In addition, the percentage of youth (15-24) who
worked part-time because that was all they could find
rose dramatically from 1990 to 1995 (Gordon Betcher-
man and Norm Leckie, 1997).
29. The fact that since 1976 people aged 65 and over have
been ineligible to participate in the EI/UI program may
be one reason why participation rates have such a
close relationship with employment rates.
30. Fullerton (1997:29) observes the participation rate for
this group had been trending down continuously since
1890.
31. In order to qualify for the QPP or CPP between the
ages of 60 and 65, the applicant must have “substan-
tially” stopped working, but there is no subsequent
restriction on earnings or hours of work for pension
recipients. There has been no restriction on applicants
between 65 and 70 since 1975.
32. The phase-in period for the CPP/QPP ended in 1976.
Indexation was introduced in Canada in the 1970s and
the early retirement option (age 60-64) was introduced
to the QPP in 1984 and to the CPP in 1987. In the
United States, an early retirement option (ages 62-65)
was introduced in 1956 for women and in 1961 for
men.
33. The large proportion of self-employed in Japan helps
to explain the high participation rate for older Japa-
nese (Takashi Oshio and Naohiro Yashiro, 1997).
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16
Canadian Business Economics
Summer 1999