Survey Of Labour And Income Dynamics Research Articles

Income decline, financial insecurity, landlord screening and renter mobility

Renters move frequently despite their low income elasticity of rent and high transactions cost. In this paper we test the hypothesis that negative economic shocks and financial insecurity are at the root of the mobility of continuing renters. Studies of homeowners with negative equity and in financial trouble help to guide our analysis. We define a negative economic shock as a decline in income, and financial insecurity as low liquid assets relative to rent, and low income. We address landlord screening – its existence has been well documented in recent literature. This indicates that, contrary to the standard theory, the household and the landlord jointly make the move-in decision and either may instigate a move out. We test our hypotheses using the Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID) for the years 1994–2011, creating a data set of major income earners and their households in two adjacent years. We select only continuing renters who do not move for job reasons. Using a random effects logit model which passes a Hausman test, we find that a negative income shock and financial insecurity have significant effects on mobility in specifications controlling for transaction costs, demographic characteristics, and landlord screening.

Prevalence and Recent Trends in Exposure to Night Shiftwork in Canada.

Night shiftwork has been linked to various health outcomes. Knowing where and to what extent workers are exposed to this type of shiftwork can help prioritize areas for intervention and further study. This study describes recent estimates of exposure to night shiftwork in Canada for 2011, and temporal trends from 1997 to 2010. Estimates by occupation, industry, province, and sex were calculated using data from the Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID) from 1996 to 2011. Workers who reported rotating or regular night shifts were classified as exposed to shiftwork involving nights, while those reporting other types of shiftwork, outside of regular daytime and evening shifts, were classified as possibly exposed. Results, with 97.5% confidence intervals (CIs), were summarized for three exposure categories: exposed workers, possibly exposed workers, and evening shift workers. Trends in 3-year rolling averages were described. In 2011, approximately 1.8 million Canadians (97.5% CI, 1.7-1.8 million), or 12% of the working population (97.5% CI, 11-12%), were exposed to night shiftwork; 45% were female. An additional 2.6 million were possibly exposed (97.5% CI, 2.5-2.7 million workers), and 745 000 worked evening shifts (97.5% CI, 701 000-792 000). This amounts to 17% (97.5% CI, 17-18%) and 4.9% (97.5% CI, 4.6-5.2%) of the labour force, respectively. Industries with the highest prevalence were accommodation and food services (20%; 97.5% CI, 18-22%), forestry, fishing, mining, oil, and gas (19%; 97.5% CI, 16-23%), and healthcare and social assistance (18%; 97.5% CI, 17-19%). By occupation, the highest prevalence of exposure was in occupations in protective services (37%; 97.5% CI, 32-42%), professional occupations in health (35%; 97.5% CI, 32-39%), and machine operators and assemblers in manufacturing (24%; 97.5% CI, 22-28%). The overall number of exposure workers increased by 29% from 1997 to 2010, but the overall proportion remained relatively the same (11% and 12%, respectively). The proportion of female workers exposed increased by 2%. These estimates characterize exposure to night shiftwork in Canada. Continued collection of shiftwork data, with greater detail on scheduling, workplace and personal factors, is needed for high-quality surveillance and investigations of shiftwork and health.

Self-Employment Dynamics of Immigrants and Natives: Individual-level Analysis for the Canadian Labour Market

This paper analyses the dynamic transitions of self-employment in four states of the Canadian labour market (paid-employment, self-employment, unemployment, and being out of the labour force) by answering three core questions: (1) What are the determinants of the transitions into and out of the four labour market states? (2) Are the probabilities of transitions between immigrants and natives significantly different, and if so, are they due to entry–exit rate gaps between immigrants and natives? (3) What are the proportions of spurious and structural state dependence in the labour market states of immigrants and natives? Our analysis was based on longitudinal data from Canada’s Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID) for males aged 25 to 55 for the period 1993 to 2004. Our results revealed that immigrants rather than natives are relatively more likely to be self-employed during the unemployment period. The findings also confirmed that males with positive investment income or wealth tended to be largely self-employed. From a policy perspective, the government provision of financial support towards self-employment positively benefits natives in seeking self-employment opportunities. Government policies to lessen labour market discrimination promotes the self-employment of immigrants.

Do Immigrants Catch‐up with the Natives in Terms of Earnings? Evidence from Individual Level Data of Canada

AbstractThis article analyses differences in dynamic transitions into and out of any of the five hourly wage quintiles and quintile zero (unemployed and non‐employed people) between immigrants and natives for the period 1993‐2004. Using Longitudinal Level data from Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID) for men aged 25 to 55, we investigate how unobserved heterogeneity factors and initial conditions may affect individuals’ propensity to stay in or leave any of the wage quintiles. We also consider a dynamic multinomial logit model with the random effects approach. Empirical results show that state dependence exists in all hourly wage quintiles. Moreover, education, experience, marital status, immigrant minority status, and age at immigration are significant factors determining hourly wage differentials between immigrants and natives.

Does it matter if immigrants work in jobs related to their education?

A common finding throughout the Canadian immigration literature is that, despite having high levels of education, recent immigrants endure substantial earnings disadvantages upon arrival that persist throughout their working career. This paper investigates the role of “qualitative” education-job matches in explaining these poor labor market outcomes. Using a self-reported match measure, available in the Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID), the incidence and wage penalties associated with being mismatched are found to be higher among immigrants relative to Canadian-born workers. As a consequence, mismatches on the part of immigrants are a mechanism behind the immigrant wage disadvantages reported throughout the literature. Successful matching is also found to significantly improve the return to pre-migration education and work experience.

Low-Income Dynamics in Canadian Society: Debates on Low-Income Measures and New Empirical Evidence

In the existing research on poverty/low income, there are emerging initiatives to use multiple thresholds of low income instead of a single threshold and to analyze persistent low income over several years instead of low income in a single year. Although most recent studies have identified low-income incidences for multiple years (at least one year, at least four years, or at least six years) associated with multiple low-income thresholds, they unintentionally bury short-run low-income spells (for one to three years) in longer low-income spells (for four to six years). In this article, we review the debates on measures of low income and attempt to differentiate the short-run low-income spells clearly from their chronic counterparts. We further identify the characteristics of Canadians who are trapped under these two types of low-income spells. Using our approach and the 1999–2007 Canadian Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID) data, we have found that approximately 73% of low-income Canadians are in short-run low income, while about 27% are in chronic low income. Short-run low income is generally associated with life cycle transitions, while chronic low income is generally associated with certain high-risk groups. These findings are fairly robust across various thresholds of low income.

Unionization and Income Growth of Racial Minority Immigrants in Canada: A Longitudinal Study

This study examines the effect of unionization on the labor market integration of newly arrived immigrants in Canada. We find that non-white recent immigrants gain access to unionized jobs at a slower rate than do white recent immigrants. The effect of unionization on earnings is somewhat lower for non-white recent immigrants than for white recent immigrants. These findings are based on growth curve modeling of longitudinal data from the Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID). Therefore, unionization does not contribute to reducing the earnings gap of non-white recent immigrants relative to white immigrants and the native-born.

Effects of Occupational Licensing and Unions on Compensation in Canada

Based on longitudinal data from the Canadian Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID) from 1993 to 2010, a pay premium of approximately 15 percent is estimated for both occupational licensing an...

Episodes of Non-Employment Among Immigrants to Canada from Developing Countries

Using data from the Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID) – we analyze non-employment episodes for immigrants from developing countries and compare their situation to that of immigrants from more developed countries and Canadian-born individuals between 1996 and 2006. The methods used allowed us to draw the following conclusion: significant differences exist between these three groups in the labour market mobility, the average duration of a non-employment episode, and the factors that affect the propensity to exit from a non-employment episode. These differences demonstrate a particular disadvantage for immigrants from developing countries. In fact, they tend to spend more time in non-employment episodes compared to their counterparts from the more developed countries and compared to Canadian-born individuals.

Senior Poverty in Canada: A Decomposition Analysis

Using 1977–79, 1994–96, and 2006–08 data from the Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF) and Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID), I conduct a decomposition analysis of senior poverty rates to determine whether changes in seniors’ characteristics can help explain historical changes in senior poverty rates. I find that increases in the educational attainment of seniors significantly reduced senior poverty, but can only explain a small portion of the reduction in poverty rates between 1977–79 and 1994–96. I find that reductions in the extent to which age and independent living place seniors at risk of poverty significantly and substantially reduced senior poverty rates. Overall, the results support the assertion that retirement income policy is an important determinant of senior poverty in Canada.

388 Exposure assessment for a Canadian census cohort study of night shift work and cancer risks

ObjectivesShift work has been categorised as a probable human carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. This is an exposure assessment for a study of shift work and...

Episodes of non-employment among immigrants from developing countries in Canada

Using data from the Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID), we analyze non-employment episodes for immigrants from developing countries, and compare their situation to that of immigrants from developed countries and Canadian-born individuals between 1996 and 2006. The methods used allowed us to draw the following conclusion: significant differences exist between these three groups in labour market mobility, the average duration of a non-employment episode, and the factors that affect the propensity to exit from a nonemployment episode. These differences demonstrate a particular disadvantage for immigrants from developing countries. In fact, they tend to spend more time in non-employment episodes compared to their counterparts from developed countries, and compared to Canadian-born individuals.

The Main Culprit behind Immigrant Wage Gaps in Canada: Lower Returns to Foreign Schooling or Work Experience?

Using the Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID) I examine how immigrants’ foreign human capital is rewarded in the labour market. I exploit the enhanced details on education attainment, provided in the SLID, to decompose human capital variables into foreign and Canadian measures that are more precise than those used in related Census-based studies. I find that measurement error associated with using imprecise measures exaggerate the portability of foreign schooling and the degree of immigrant wage assimilation. However, the virtually zero returns to foreign work experience, commonly found in the literature, cannot be attributed to measurement error and is mainly responsible for estimated wage gaps in the standard human-capital-adjusted earnings function.

Examining the determinants of union dissolution among married and common-law unions in Canada

This paper examines the determinants of union dissolution among first marriage, second marriage, and common-law unions via an event history analysis of the fourth panel of the Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID). Results suggest that unemployment and other potentially challenging employment situations are associated with higher odds of dissolution, among first marriage unions in particular. The factors that predict union dissolution are found to differ, both across union types and within common-law unions by region (Quebec versus elsewhere in Canada).

Financial Factors and Labour Market Transitions of Older Workers in Canada

This paper looks at the influence of financial factors on the labour market transitions of Canadian older workers. Also, in contrast to previous studies, the analysis focuses on transitions between full-time work, part-time work, and retirement. Sequential annual observations of employment and retirement choices are examined for samples of full-time and part-time workers, drawn from the Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID), 2001–2006. Measures of potential pension wealth and one-year and peak pension accruals are imputed using data from the Survey of Consumer Finances, 1973–1997, and the SLID, 1997–2006. Regression results indicate that financial factors influence workers to move from full-time to part-time jobs and support the evidence found in previous studies that retirement is usually a process, not a single event. Also, an increase in pension accruals increases the probability of working full-time for lower-income earners only. Among nonfinancial factors, a negative health shock increases the probability of working part-time or retiring for full-time workers but has little effect on the labour market transitions of part-time workers. Finally, these results suggest that policies to encourage phased retirement are unlikely to have a significant labour market effect since bridge employment is already a common transition process among older workers.

The (Non) Impact of Minimum Wages on Poverty: Regression and Simulation Evidence for Canada

We estimate the effect of minimum wages on poverty for Canada using data from the Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID) for 1997 to 2007 and find that minimum wages do not have a statistically significant effect on poverty and this finding is robust across a number of specifications. Our simulation results, based on the March 2008 Labour Force Survey (LFS), find that only about 30 % of the net earnings gain from minimum wage increases goes to the poor while about 70 % “spill over” into the hands of the non-poor. Furthermore, we find that job losses are disproportionately concentrated on the poor. Our results highlight that, political rhetoric not-withstanding, minimum wages are poorly targeted as an anti-poverty device and are at best an exceedingly blunt instrument for dealing with poverty.

Testing for poverty dominance: an application to Canada

Abstract The paper proposes and applies statistical tests for poverty dominance that check for whether poverty comparisons can be made robustly over ranges of poverty lines and classes of poverty indices. This helps provide both normative and statistical confidence in establishing poverty rankings across distributions. The tests, which can take into account the complex sampling procedures that are typically used by statistical agencies to generate household‐level surveys, are implemented using the Canadian Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID) for 1996, 1999, and 2002. Although the yearly cumulative distribution functions cross at the lower tails of the distributions, the more recent years tend to dominate earlier years for a relatively wide range of poverty lines. Failing to take into account SLID’s sampling variability (as is sometimes done) can inflate significantly one’s confidence in ranking poverty. Taking into account SLID’s complex sampling design (as has not been done before) can also decrease substantially the range of poverty lines over which a poverty ranking can be inferred.

Up and on or down and out? Gender, immigration and the consequences of temporary employment in Canada

What happens to temporary workers when their jobs end? Is temporary employment a fleeting way station to a better job, or does it herald an ongoing cycle of precariousness? What are the implications of temporary employment dynamics for broader patterns of inequality in labour markets? European researchers have focused increasing attention on these issues in the context of concern about the relationship between inequality and insecurity in labour markets with strong regulatory protections for insiders. However, research on the outcomes of temporary employment in the less regulated labour markets of North America remains limited. This paper draws on rich representative panel data from Statistics Canada's Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID) and competing risks Cox regression to assess the outcomes and dynamics of temporary employment in this understudied context. Key contributions include more precise estimates of transitions, consideration of multiple theoretically relevant outcomes (permanent jobs; new temporary jobs; and periods of unemployment and labour force withdrawal), and situation of the effect of gender and immigration status on temporary employment transitions in the context of the dynamics of permanent jobs. Findings present a more pessimistic picture of overall temporary job outcomes than prior research but suggest that the dynamics of temporary work do not magnify inequalities of gender and immigration status.

Cycling Off and On Welfare in Canada

AbstractInternationally, traditional approaches to social assistance (welfare) have increasingly been replaced with ‘active’ labour market policies. Alongside other industrialised countries, Canada embraced this shift, with its emphasis on the ‘shortest route’ to paid employment.There has been little research on the outcomes of these dramatic changes in Canada, especially longer term. This article explores the post-welfare labour market experiences of people who were on social assistance in Canada in 1996. It uses the longitudinal micro-data files of the Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID) from Statistics Canada, which tracks a panel of recipients over five years. We examine the mixing of work and welfare, the transition from welfare to work, and selected labour market indicators – primarily hours of work and wages – that those in receipt of social assistance face in assuming paid work.Those leaving welfare for work face precarious employment opportunities. Leavers earn lower wages, work fewer hours and consequently have lower annual earnings than non-recipients. Over time the gap narrows but remains significant, even after six years. Returns to welfare are frequent. Overall, even after six years most social assistance recipients remained marginalised in the periphery of the labour market.

The impact of the employment insurance repayment policy: nonexperimental approaches

This research examines the impact of the strengthened repayment provision under the Employment Insurance (EI) system in Canada. The provision has introduced an increase in benefit repayment rates and a reduction in the repayment threshold. Without a randomized experiment, this article uses various nonexperimental approaches, particularly matching, to estimate the policy effect. Using data from the Survey of Changes in Employment (CIE) and the Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID), the results suggest that the new repayment policy has reduced the probabilities of filing a claim among workers whose annual income is equal to or greater than $48 750. The estimated decline in the claim rate ranges between 6 and 12 percentage points, depending on the datasets. The results appear to be robust regardless of the methods of estimation.