Study: Rising education of women and the gender earnings gap

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The earnings gap between young women and men only declined moderately during the 1990s, despite a dramatic increase in the proportion of young women holding a university degree, according to a new study.

From 1991 to 2001, the proportion of 25- to 29-year-old women holding a university degree went from 21% to 34%. In contrast, the proportion of 25- to 29-year-old men holding a university degree only rose moderately over the period, from 16% in 1991 to 21% in 2001.

Despite the sharp increase in the proportion of young women with a university degree and the fact that university degree-holders generally earn more than other workers, the gender earnings gap only declined slightly over the period.

Specifically, women aged 25 to 29 earned 20% less than men in 1991. By 2001, the gap had narrowed slightly to 18%. Virtually all of this decline was related to the rising educational attainment of young women.

One reason why the earnings gap only declined slightly in the 1990s, despite the rapidly rising educational attainment among young women, is that the gap among university graduates actually increased over the period. It went from 12% in 1991 to 18% in 2001.

This was largely the result of real wage declines in female-dominated disciplines, such as health and education, and real wage increases in male-dominated disciplines, such as engineering, mathematics, computer sciences and physical sciences.

The study also found that the earnings gap between young women and men declined more rapidly in the 1980s, going from 26% in 1981 to 20% in 1991. However, the rising educational attainment of young women played only a small role during this period.

The study, which used Census of Population data from 1981 to 2001, examined the role of rising educational attainment among young women in reducing the gender earnings gap. Other factors examined included discipline, region, city size, marital status, number of children, and weeks worked. Only workers aged 25 to 29 who worked an average of 30 hours or more per week for at least 40 weeks in the year prior to the census were included in the analysis. Although earnings are collected for the year prior to the census, the study refers to the census year throughout.

The research paper "Has higher education among young women substantially reduced the gender gap in employment and earnings?", as part of the Analytical Studies Branch Research Paper Series (11F0019MIE2007301, free), is now available from the Analytical Studies module of our website.

Related studies from the Business and Labour Market Analysis Division can be found in the publication Update on Analytical Studies Research (11-015-XIE, free), available from the Publications module of our website.

For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact Marc Frenette (613-951-4228; marc.frenette@statcan.gc.ca), Business and Labour Market Analysis Division.