Quiz: Laid-off husbands and working wives

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To the question: A large proportion of husbands who lost their jobs in the recent economic downturn had a wife who was employed. Was this proportion: A. 65% or  B. Over 70%?

The correct answer is B:  Men were disproportionately affected by the 2008/2009 economic downturn, but 71% of those unemployed who were married or in a common-law relationship had a wife who was employed.

Thanks to the impressive growth in Canadian women's labour market participation and the growing proportion of employed wives, as well as the fact that they averaged about 30 hours of work per week, couples where the husbands have lost their jobs since October 2008 are more able to moderate the impact of job loss than their counterparts in the early 1980s, when less than half of laid-off husbands had a wife who was employed.  

Chart - Participation rates of married women age 20 to 64

Description

Note: Includes legally married women and women in common-law relationships.
Source: Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey.

Table - Participation rates of married women age 20 to 64

	%
1976	46.7
1977	48.0
1978	50.2
1979	51.7
1980	53.3
1981	55.3
1982	56.1
1983	57.7
1984	59.0
1985	60.8
1986	62.7
1987	63.9
1988	65.5
1989	66.7
1990	68.0
1991	68.8
1992	68.5
1993	69.1
1994	69.0
1995	69.2
1996	69.2
1997	69.8
1998	70.7
1999	71.1
2000	71.5
2001	71.8
2002	73.2
2003	74.0
2004	74.3
2005	74.1
2006	74.4
2007	75.2
2008	75.3
2009	75.8
Note: Includes legally married women and women in common-law relationships. Source: Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey.

Source: Women's participation and economic downturns - HTML | PDF

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