Earnings of Couples with High and Low Levels of Education, 1980-2000
by René Morissette and Anick Johnson
Business and Labour Market Analysis Division
Analytical Studies Branch research paper series, No. 230
Context
Numerous studies have analyzed how earnings of highly educated and
less educated individuals have evolved over the last two decades in
Canada. Yet remarkably little is currently known regarding the evolution
of earnings of highly educated couples and of their less educated counterparts.
This is an important omission since women' earnings growth may
well have offset the earnings declines of their low-educated spouse,
allowing Canadian families to avoid a drop in employment income.
Objectives
The goal of this study is to answer the following questions :
- Did women's earnings fully offset the declining earnings of
low-educated men?
- Did women's earnings grow more among couples with low-educated
males than among those with highly educated ones?
- Has the earnings gap between couples with low levels of education
and their better educated counterparts risen over time?
Findings
Wives' earnings growth did not always fully offset the earnings
declines experienced by low-educated males during the 1980-2000 period.
It did so among Canadian-born low-educated couples where men were aged
35 to 54, but not among younger ones. Furthermore, the earnings of highly
educated women generally rose more than those of their less educated
counterparts. And, earnings of highly educated males evolved more favourably
than those of low-educated men. Since most highly educated women live
with highly educated males, both patterns contributed to widening the
gap between highly educated couples and their less educated counterparts.
Data sources
Census of Population of 1981, 1986, 1991, 1996 and 2001.
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