Tammy Schirle

• Wilfrid Laurier University

Declining labor force participation of older men throughout the 20th century and recent increases in participation have generated substantial interest in understanding the effect of public pensions on retirement. The National Bureau of Economic Research's International Social Security (ISS) Project, a long-term collaboration among researchers in a...

Canadian men in the top earnings ventile live eight years (11%) longer than do men in the bottom ventile. For women, the difference is 3.6 years. This earnings–longevity gradient has shifted uniformly across earnings groups through time, in stark contrast to in the US. We demonstrate that the widely used period measurement method can differ from co...

In this study, we review the initial impacts of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on the Canadian labour market. We focus on changes in employment and aggregate hours worked between February 2020 and April 2020 while accounting for normal monthly changes in these indicators. We find that COVID-19 induced a 32 percent decline in aggre...

We address health capacity to work among older Canadian workers with a specific focus on differences by gender and region. We find that in 2012 men would have needed to work more than five additional years between ages 55 and 69 to keep pace with how much men worked in 1976, holding health capacity constant. For working women, the comparable result...

We examine the potential of labor-relations reforms to address wage inequality by relating an index of the favorableness to unions of Canadian provincial labor-relations laws to changes in industry, occupation, education, and gender-specific provincial unionization rates. While we find some evidence of larger unionization gains among high-school–ed...

The gender wage gap remains an important area of research in Canada. Schirle (2015) examined the gender gaps in average hourly wages facing private sector workers across Canada and found that all provinces made progress toward narrowing the gender wage gap since 1997. However, progress varies substantially: Ontario’s gender log wage differential fe...

We examine the effects of the Universal Child Care Benefit on the labour supply of mothers. The benefit has a significant negative effect on the labour supply of legally married mothers, reducing their likelihood of participation in the labour force by 1.4 percentage points and hours worked by nearly one hour per week. In contrast, the likelihood o...

This study examines the gender gaps in average hourly wages facing private sector full-time employees in the Canadian provinces, using data from the Canadian Labour Force Survey. Over the 1997-2014 period, all provinces have made progress toward narrowing the gender wage gap, though notably little progress was made in Newfoundland and Alberta. Much...

Using a difference-in-differences estimator, I find the Canadian Universal Child Care Benefit has significant negative income effects on the labour supply of married individuals. The likelihood of lower-educated mothers to participate in the labour force is reduced 3.2 percentage points when receiving the benefit. Median hours worked per week among...

A certain segment of the Canadian population is at risk of being ill-prepared for retirement. These people will likely not have enough pension income when they retire to maintain their current lifestyle. It sounds like a problem that calls for urgent government action. Only, these people are not underprivileged or lowincome earners. They are middle...

Cet article présente les résultats d’une analyse par décomposition des taux de pauvreté chez les personnes âgées que j’ai effectuée afin de déterminer si certaines caractéristiques des personnes âgées peuvent ou non expliquer les variations historiques de ces taux. J’ai fait cette analyse à partir des données de l’Enquête sur les finances des conso...

In this paper we examine the relationship between business cycle fluctuations and family formation and structure, using Canadian vital statistics and Labour Force Survey data. Similar to US studies, we find that a 1 percentage point increase in the unemployment rate of men is associated with a 13 % decline in the number of marriages formed per thou...

Important changes are now underway to Canada Pension Plan “adjustment factors” that will increase the penalty for those who retire before age 65, and will raise the amount of additional CPP benefits available for those who delay retirement beyond 65. The new pension adjustment factors have moved in the right direction, but still fall short of offer...

In this paper I provide evidence that suggests selective retirement does not bias estimates of wage losses due to displacement. I estimate the magnitude of hourly wage losses faced by workers who are displaced when over the age of 50. I account for the self-selection of older workers into retirement, which prevents observation of some workers' pote...

This study investigates the relationship between business cycle fluctuations and health in the Canadian context, given that a procyclical relationship between mortality rates and unemployment rates has already been well established in the U.S. literature. Using a fixed effects model and provincial data over the period 1977-2009, we estimate the eff...

I demonstrate a simple procedure for creating age-adjusted earnings distribution statistics, using US data and recentered influence function regression methods. As the baby boom generation has moved toward the latter part of their career, earnings distribution statistics for the working age population have emphasized within-cohort disparities that...

The changes in the labour market outcomes of women are among the most important features of the changes in the Canadian labour market over the last two decades of the 20th century. During the 1980s, female labour force participation, which had climbed from below 30 percent in 1960 to 50 percent in 1980, continued to increase and appeared to reach a...

In this study we document recent trends in family earnings inequality using data from the Canadian Census and provide insight into the various factors that drive changes in the family earnings distribution. Over the period 1980–95 we observe substantial increases in family earnings inequality. In contrast, we find that some decrease in inequality o...

RÉSUMÉ En utilisant des données longitudinales de l’Enquête sur la dynamique du travail et du revenu, j’examine les effets de la santé et des régimes de pension offerts par les employeurs sur les décisions de retraite ce qui n’a pas été étudiés simultanément dans le contexte canadien. Les résultats indiquent que les régimes de pension offerts par l...

In this paper I estimate the magnitude of earnings losses faced by workers who are displaced when over the age of 50. This is potentially complicated by the self-selection of older individuals out of the labour force and into activities such as retirement, preventing observation of their potential earnings losses. Using data from the Survey of Labo...

The distribution of income among seniors in Canada has changed substantially over the past decade, reflecting an overall increase in income and an increase in income inequality. In this study I decompose the distribution of income among senior couples to determine the extent to which changes in the labour market activity and retirement experiences...

This paper examines the incentives for retirement imposed by Canada's public pension system. A series of simulations clearly illustrate the various components of the pension system that create incentives and disincentives among older Canadians for continued work. We find the largest work disincentives are generated by the income-tested Guaranteed I...

This article seeks to explain the substantial increases in older men's labor force participation rates observed since the mid-1990s. Using data from the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, I exploit the cohort effects driving recent increases in older women's participation rates to identify the effect of a wife's participation decision o...

Provisions in defined-benefit pension plans may bring down employment rates among older workers — a concern for employers, and for policymakers projecting the impact of babyboomers’ mass retirement from the labour force.

The distribution of family income among seniors in Canada has changed sub- stantially over the past decade, reecting an overall increase in family income and an increase in income inequality. In this study, I use semi-parametric decompo- sition methods (developed by DInardo, Fortin and Lemieux, 1996) to determine the extent to which various factors...

This paper seeks to explain the substantial increases in older men’s labour force participation rates that have been observed since the mid-1990s. Using data from the U.S. March Current Population Survey, the Canadian Labour Force Survey, and the U.K. Labour Force Survey, I investigate the hypothesis that husbands treat the leisure time of their wi...

Using longitudinal data from the Canadian Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics, I use an option value framework to examine the effects of health and employer provided pensions on retirement decisions. This study fills existing gaps in the literature by jointly modeling the impact of financial incentives and health on the retirement decisions of Can...