|
October 3, 1997
Public sector downsizing:
The impact on job quality in Canada
The public sector has been an important provider of good jobs in recent decades, offering good wages and non-wage benefits, and stable employment. By comparison, small and medium-sized businesses – where most of the job growth in the 1990s has occurred – generally offer lower wages, more part-time work, and fewer non-wage benefits.
Between 1992 and 1996, 121,000 jobs across Canada were lost in the public sector. Over the same period, 694,000 jobs were created in the private sector and 266,000 more people became self-employed. Public sector jobs dropped from offering one-fifth of all employment in Canada in 1976, to less than one-sixth by 1996.
Although many people think that the public sector has ballooned in recent decades, public sector jobs grew by only 10 per cent between 1976 and 1996, while Canada's population grew by 27 per cent. Private sector jobs grew by 45 per cent and the number of self-employed grew by 83 per cent over the same period.
Average earnings for women in the public sector are $29,293, compared to $16,038 in the private sector, and $16,603 for those who are self-employed.*
Fewer than one-third of women in the public sector earn $20,000 or less per year, compared to nearly two-thirds of those working in the private sector, and 70 per cent of those who are self-employed. The number of jobs for youth (aged 18 to 29) in the public sector dropped by 35 per cent between 1984 and 1996 – from 600,000 to 392,000. The rate of youth unemployment (those aged 15 to 24) has remained at or above 16 per cent since 1990. Only three per cent of public sector jobs pay less than $7.50 per hour, compared to 20 per cent of jobs in the private sector. Men's average earnings are $41,708 in the public sector, $31,102 in the private sector, and $28,860 for those who are self-employed. Women's and men's earnings are more equitable in the public sector, where seven per cent of women and five per cent of men earn $10.00 per hour or less. In the private sector, 41 per cent of women and only 26 per cent of men earn such low wages. Unionization greatly minimizes the job quality gap between public and private sector workers. The vast majority of unionized workers in both sectors earn more than $15 per hour and their rate of coverage for medical and dental benefits is almost identical. However, 80 per cent of public sector workers are unionized, compared to 28 per cent of private sector workers. Nearly 85 per cent of public sector workers have employer-sponsored pension plans, compared to less than half of private sector workers. Part-time workers in the public sector are two to three times more likely to receive non-wage benefits (such as medical or dental benefits, pension plans, sick leave) than those in the private sector where, on average, only one-sixth of part-time workers receive such benefits. Nearly three-quarters of public sector workers worked a full year at full-time hours in 1995, compared to less than 60 per cent of private sector workers. Sixteen per cent of public sector workers worked part-time in 1995, compared to 22 per cent of private sector workers. Average annual earnings for people in professional occupations are slightly higher among the self-employed and slightly lower in the private sector, compared to professionals in the public sector. Average annual earnings of self-employed blue collar and clerical workers are more than 40 per cent lower, and those in the private sector are approximately 25 per cent lower than people in the same occupational groups in the public sector.
* Unless otherwise stated, these and all following statistics are for 1995.
Public Sector Downsizing - Related Material
Canadian Council on Social Development,
309 Cooper Street, 5th Floor,
Ottawa, Ontario, K2P 0G5
Tel: (613) 236-8977, Fax: (613) 236-2750, Web: www.ccsd.ca, Email: council@ccsd.ca
|
