Mothers with young children are joining the Canadian labour force at higher rates since the start of the pandemic, with more flexible work environments and better access to child care supporting their return to their jobs, new research by Toronto-Dominion Bank has found.
A report released Tuesday by TD Economics shows that the participation rate of women with children younger than six years old in the work force has risen by four percentage points, to 78.8 per cent, since the summer of 2020, which is equivalent to an additional 111,000 working women. That compares with a 1.7-percentage-point increase in the previous three years.
“Entry into the work force by mothers with young children had been on the rise for some time, but the crawling pace was given a bolt of energy during the pandemic,” the report said.
The trend was mainly bolstered by the new remote and hybrid work models, which enable greater balance between family and work responsibilities.
Industries such as finance and insurance, which introduced flexible work arrangements during the pandemic, saw an increase in employment for mothers, while those requiring in-person work, such as the food and accommodation sector, experienced declines.
Another factor contributing to the increase is a push by provinces alongside the federal government to lower the cost of child care to eventually reach an average of $10 per day. The federal government’s plan is expected to create 250,000 new child-care spots by 2026.
Child-care accessibility not only helps women rejoin and remain in the work force, but it addresses “a more fundamental equity issue in helping close the pay gap between men and women,” Francis Fong, managing director and senior economist at TD Economics and author of the study, told The Globe and Mail.
While researchers have been able to explain much of the systemic pay gap by looking at differences in job tenure, occupation, selection and education, a portion of the gap remains unexplained, Mr. Fong said.
“The remaining gap that’s unexplained is likely going to be significantly driven by what’s called the motherhood penalty, the penalty that women face when they become mothers,” he added.
Quebec introduced $5-per-day child care in 1997 – currently $8.85 per day – while Alberta and British Columbia followed suit with similar policies that capped fees, improved early childhood educators’ wages and opened more spaces for children.
“We did notice an uptick in labour force participation rates among mothers with young children in those provinces after they made efforts to make it more accessible,” Mr. Fong said, adding, “you [can] compare that to a province like Ontario, which has had very limited efforts to improve child-care affordability, and the participation rate has been largely stagnant for the entire period for which we have data.”
As mothers return to the work force, demand for child care will naturally increase, raising questions as to whether provinces have the capacity to provide equitable access for parents. The study estimates that the total gap between the government target for child-care spaces and demand for child care will be approximately 243,000 to 315,000 spaces.
Ontario accounts for the majority of the projected gap, falling short by 110,336 to 164,652 spaces, while British Columbia’s estimated gap is 5,675 to 10,996, and Alberta’s is 26,002 to 30,744. The provinces closest to meeting demand are Saskatchewan with a gap of zero to 1,066 spaces, Newfoundland with a gap of 225 to 625, and Prince Edward Island with a gap of 993 to 1,569.
These figures do not take into account the availability of early childhood educators in each province. The study estimated a national gap of 32,000 to 105,000 child-care workers, of which half would need to be registered ECEs. Attracting and retaining workers has proved particularly challenging as many are leaving the industry and report feeling worn out.
Another trend the researchers observed, which is not included in the report, is that mothers are switching from part-time into full-time employment, which is likely a result of growing workplace flexibility.
Mr. Fong explained that family responsibilities tend to fall disproportionately more on women, which is why they would prefer part-time work before hybrid work arrangements emerged.
“[Workplace flexibility was] a game changer for people to be able to take on more work, more responsibility, more hours,” Mr. Fong said. “So that’s been, I think, a huge benefit for families with young children.”
Editor’s note: A previous version of this article did not cite the most recent estimate of the number of new child-care spots under the federal plan. This version includes the updated estimate.