Record employment rate for women shows Trudeau's subsidized daycare plan is working

The combination of a tight labour market and the Trudeau government's subsidized daycare plan has led to the closing of longstanding gender gaps.

The employment rate for women aged 25 to 54 was the highest since 1976, when the data was first collected. The previous record was set in May of 81.4 per cent.

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The unemployment rate dropped to 5.1 per cent in September and there were close to one million vacancies. The unemployment rate is within the definition of full employment, meaning there is enough jobs for anyone who wants one, even if they don't.

When the labour market is tight, companies can either invest in automation or hire applicants that might not have made the cut in a more balanced hiring market. Desperate managers were forced to consider applicants with less experience or who needed flexible schedules in order to hire women. Women who tend to shoulder most of the parenting responsibilities tend to put their careers on hold in order to take care of their family.

St-Arnaud said that government policy has helped get women back in the workforce. He said that women feel more confident going back into the workforce because they won't have to worry about child care.

The motivation for the child care system change was to increase employment rates. The Finance Department observed that Quebec's subsidized daycare initiative from two decades ago allowed more women to join the labour force. All provincial and territorial governments signed a pledge to cut daycare fees in half by the end of the year and bring them down to $10 a day within five years.

Many provinces and territories have been able to reduce the cost of child care for families who already have children. Prior to the initiative, parents in Newfoundland and Labrador paid an average of $36 per day for daycare but now pay an average of $15 a day. According to Statistics Canada, the employment rate for core-aged women in the province hit a record high in October of 79.7%, before dropping 0.1 percentage points last month.

Martha Friendly is a policy researcher and board member of Child Care Now, an advocacy group.

Friendly said that some women had to stay home because they couldn't afford child care. People can go back to work if they get child care that is 50 per cent less expensive.

Women aged 25 to 54 in Ontario had the highest employment rate on record in May. In November it sat at 78.5%.

Friendly said the next challenge for the federal government is to make sure there are enough daycare spots. Child Care Now sent an open letter to governments last week, calling on them to address a shortage of child care workers by boosting salaries and improving work conditions, and to accelerate the creation of new spaces by adopting a not-for-profit model.

Adding to the pool of available workers is one of the policies that has helped women achieve record employment. Newly arrived men and women have an easier time finding work because of the strong level of labour demand.

The strength of the labour market is monitored by the Bank of Canada as it balances bringing down high inflation to normal levels while avoiding raising interest rates. The central bank forecast 1.5 per cent growth in the most recent quarter, but growth in the third quarter slowed to 2.9 per cent.

There could be more pain as the economy gears down, but women who tend to work in roles that are more stable could weather the downturn better and hold on to some of their gains, according to St-Arnaud.

The email is bbbharti@postmedia.