Future of work
A curated resource of recent research on trends shaping Canada's labour market.
This report speaks to an ongoing debate on why COVID-19 could be hurting women’s labour market outcomes disproportionately, resulting in a “she-cession.” The existence and persistence of this trend was found across 38 countries during 2020.
The composition of sectoral employment by gender is driving differences in labour market outcomes between men and women. As well, the report investigates the relative importance of unemployment versus labour force participation margins in driving employment changes by gender.
Disproportionate declines in women’s employment appear more attributable to their larger declines in labor force participation rates compared to men rather than to a greater rise in their relative unemployment rates. Although the broad patterns point to the high incidence of short-lived she-cessions, there is much similarity in the details and policy responses across countries.